rce or threat of force, any person in the enjoyment of that person's free exercise of religious beliefs, or attempts to do so; shall be punished ... (3)intentionally defaces, damages, or destroys any religious real property because of the race, color, or ethnic characteristics of any individual associated with that religious property, or attempts to do so, shall be punished as provided. (18 U.S.C. 247). The Campus Hate Crimes Right to Know Act was added as an amendment to the Higher Education Reauthorization Act, and passed Congress in 1998. The law raises awareness of all hate crime on university campuses by requiring campus security to collect and report hate crimes according to categories of prejudice including sexual orientation. Campus security authorities are also required to develop programs directed to combat these crimes on their campus. Before this law was passed, campuses were only required to report cases of murder, rape, and aggravated assault. (United States Congress 1998)Until the Supreme Court case Wisconsin v. Mitchell in 1989, the states were divided on the constitutionality of these laws also. The synopsis for Wisconsin v. Mitchell is that a nineteen year old black man, Todd Mitchell, after coming out of a movie theater showing Mississippi Burning directed and encouraged a group of young black men to attack a fourteen year old white boy, Gregory Rid*censored* that was walking on the street. Mitchell selected Rid*censored* to be beaten solely because of his race. Mitchell was convicted of aggravated battery for his role in the severe beating, which is a sentence of two years maximum under Wisconsin law. This crime as also considered under the Wisconsin Bias Crime Statutes that provides for enhanced penalties for religion, color, disability, sexual orientation, nationality, and race motivated crimes. Under this statute, Mitchell’s sen...
