Hate Crimes - Legal Issues & Legislation
Current law defines hate crime as any crime against either person or property in which the offender intentionally selects the victim because of the victim's actual or perceived race, colour, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender, disability, or sexual orientation. Hate crimes are not separate and distinct offences under current federal law. Rather, hate crimes are traditional crimes, during which the offender is motivated by one or more biases that are considered to be particularly reprehensible and damaging to society as a whole. Furthermore, federal jurisdiction over hate crime is limited to certain civil rights offences, which are considered to be "hate crimes" when it is determined that the offender was motivated by a bias against race, colour, religion, national origin, and, in limited instances, disability.