Hate Crimes and Repeat Offenders

Welmer's rambling rant against hate crime legislation reminded me that I had intended to write on the topic as well.

I used to be really strongly against the idea of hate crimes, simply on the basis that a common law ought to be good enough for all of us. My view has shifted over time however, as I shifted my focus from the rights of the victims to the handling of the offenders.

If hatred of the victim's group is the motivating factor in a crime, the perpetrator is more likely to search out more victims fitting the same profile. And assuming that the goal of criminal law is to protect everybody else, likelihood of repeat offenses is clearly relevant to sentencing.

I also think that there is widespread confusion between the hate crimes prosecuted by the justice system and the thought crimes prosecuted by "human rights" commissions. I am certainly not in favor of hate crimes being standalone charges.