many other states (1998 Hate Crimes Report- Florida). In 1998, the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted research on hate crimes and reported these findings:4, 321 motivated by racial hatred 1,390 motivated by religious hatred1,260 by sexual orientation 754 ethnically motivated 25 toward disabled 5 multiple causes7,755 TOTAL REPORTED HATE CRIMESAccording to the online source, National Center for Victims of Crime, in 1998, 537 active hate groups were identified in the United States by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The Southern Poverty Law Center also reports that everyday, eight African Americans, three Caucasian Americans, three homosexuals, three Jewish persons, and one Hispanic become victims of hate crime (1999).In May of 1999, the Feldman Group Inc. conducted a survey finding that 76 percent of Americans believe that crimes motivated by bias based on sexual orientation should be considered hate crimes. In April of 1999, Penn, Schoden & Berland conducted a survey that reported that 90 percent of young people in the United States see hate crimes as a serious national problem, and do not think that enough is being done to prevent them. According to the poll, 95 percent of this sample was in favor of the government expanding the law to protect victims of hate crime.Several pieces of legislation pertaining to the enhancement of perpetrators of hate crimes go before Congress each and every session. In 1992 Representative Schiff introduced the Hate Crimes Sentencing Enhancement Act. This bill would have provided sentencing enhancements for offenses that are hate crimes. This bill had many supporters, but died in Committee during session. In the next convening session of Congress, Representative Schumer re-introduced the Hate Crimes Sentencing Enhancement Act with a few minor changes to try once more to establish hate crime sentencing legislation. This bill also died in committee. “As part of our prep...
