Improving the Systems Response to Hate Crimes: Key Considerations among Prosecutors and Community Organizations

Session Submission Type: Complete Thematic Panel

Abstract/Description

Hate crimes are widely underreported to law enforcement and seldomly prosecuted. This panel examines government and community institutional reasons for these patterns. The first paper uses administrative prosecutorial data to identify factors related to hate crime case acceptance, charging, and disposition. Findings suggest greater likelihood of hate crime disposition when cases reflect “classic” examples of bias crimes, and less so when the underlying charges otherwise provide for harsh penalties. A second paper also uses administrative data to examine how neighborhood characteristics and spatial patterns relate to hate crime prosecution, linking discourse on social disorganization theory and legal decision-making. The third paper draws on case files and 75 interviews with elected prosecutors nationally to understand practices related to hate crime evidence collection. Demonstrating bias motivation continues to be a challenge in hate crime prosecution, though capacity to collect social media evidence is growing. The fourth paper reports on interviews with community-based organizations who work to address hate crimes in NYC, including the types of resolution they seek and their coordination with one another and with law enforcement. Strategies differ substantially by organization and the community they serve. Together, the panel offers recommendations for greater identification of and response to hate crimes.

Sub Unit

• Area III. Types of Offending / 23. Hate Crime

Individual Presentations

• Incident, Defendant, and Victim Factors Predicting Hate Crime Prosecution - Aimee McPhail, CUNY Institute for State and Local Governance; Neal Palmer, CUNY Institute for State and Local Governance

• A Multi-Method Analysis of Structural Barriers to Hate Crime Prosecution - Eduardo Mendoza Montoya, Florida International University

• The Role of Evidence in Hate Crime Prosecution - Selasi Kuwornu, Florida International University; Besiki Kutateladze, Florida International University

• How Community-Based Organizations Define and Pursue Justice for Hate Crime Survivors: Lessons from a New York City Coalition - Sana Khan, CUNY Institute for State and Local Governance; Ebony Ruhland, Rutgers University-Newark; Raven Lewis, Rutgers University-Newark, School of Criminal Justice

Chair

• Neal Palmer, CUNY Institute for State and Local Governance

Discussant

• Melba Pearson, Florida International University