Investigating
hate crime is the number one priority of our Civil Rights Program.
Why? Not only because hate crime has a devastating impact on
families and communities, but also because groups that preach
hatred and intolerance plant the seeds of terrorism here in
our country. Defining
a Hate Crime
A
hate crime is a traditional offense like murder, arson, or vandalism
with an added element of bias. For the purposes
of collecting
statistics, Congress has defined a hate crime as a "criminal
offense against a person or property motivated in whole
or in part by an offender's bias against a race, religion,
disability,
ethnic origin or sexual orientation." Hate itself
is not a crime—and the FBI is mindful of protecting
freedom of speech and other civil liberties. FBI
Jurisdiction
A hate crime is not a distinct federal offense. However,
the federal government can and does investigate and prosecute
crimes
of bias
as civil rights violations, which do fall under its jurisdiction.
These efforts serve as a backstop for state and local
authorities, which handle the vast majority of hate crime
cases. A 1994
federal law also increased penalties for offenses proven
to be hate crimes.
Limitations
in federal statutes prevent the FBI from investigating
crimes of bias motivated solely
by gender,
disability, or sexual
orientation. Disability issues may be investigated in
housing cases that fall under Title 42, U.S.C., Section
3631.
The
FBI’s
Role
As
part of its responsibility to uphold the civil rights
of the American people, the FBI takes a number of
steps to
combat
the problem of hate crimes:
- Investigative
Activities: The FBI is
the sole investigative force for criminal violations
of federal civil rights statutes.
In Fiscal Year 2005, we conducted 380 hate crime
investigations, many jointly with our state and local
law enforcement
partners.
- Law
Enforcement Support: The FBI works closely with state/local
authorities on investigations, even when federal
charges are not brought. FBI resources, forensic expertise,
and experience
in identification
and proof of hate-based motivations often provide
an
invaluable complement to local law enforcement.
Many cases are also
prosecuted under state statutes such as murder,
arson, or more recent
local ethnic intimidation laws. Once the state
prosecution begins, the
Department of Justice monitors the proceedings
in order to ensure that the federal interest is vindicated
and
the law
is applied
equally among the 95 U.S. Judicial Districts.
- The
FBI forwards completed reports to U.S. Attorneys and
the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice,
which decide whether a federal prosecution is warranted.
They may move forward, for example, if local authorities
are unwilling or unable to prosecute a crime of bias.
- Hate
crimes directed at the U.S. government or the American
population may be investigated as acts of domestic terrorism.
Incidents involving hate groups are also investigated
as domestic terrorism (the FBI's Civil Rights Program
cannot investigate groups, only individuals).
History
The
FBI investigated what are now called hate crimes as far
back as the 1920s. Our role increased following the passage
of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Before then, the federal government
took the position that protection of civil rights was a local
function, not a federal one. However, the murders of civil
rights workers Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman, and James
Chaney, near Philadelphia, Mississippi, in June 1964 provided
the impetus for a visible and sustained federal effort to protect
and foster civil rights for African Americans. MIBURN, as the
case was called (it stood for Mississippi Burning), became
the largest federal investigation ever conducted in Mississippi.
On October 20, 1967, seven men were convicted of conspiring
to violate the constitutional rights of the slain civil rights
workers. All seven were sentenced to prison terms ranging from
three to ten years.
- Hate
Crimes Working Groups (HCWGs): In 1998,
the FBI co-chaired a
subcommittee of the
Attorney General’s Hate Crimes Working
Group that was responsible for developing a
national model hate crimes curriculum for state
and local
law enforcement officers.
The FBI has been active in teaching this curriculum
to other law enforcement trainers throughout
the United States. The majority
of the FBI’s field offices also
participate in local Hate Crime Working
Groups. These
Working Groups combine community
and law enforcement resources to develop
strategies to address local
hate crime problems.
- National
Church Arson Task Force: The FBI plays an active role in
the National
Church Arson Task
Force,
created
in 1996 in response
to a rash of arsons at African-American churches.
The Task Force, which includes representatives
of five federal agencies
and the
Executive Office of U.S. Attorneys, works
with
state/local authorities to investigate church
arsons.
- Public
Outreach: The FBI has
forged partnerships nationally and locally
with many civil rights organizations
to establish rapport,
share information, address concerns, and
cooperate in solving problems. These groups include such
organizations as the NAACP,
the Southern
Poverty Law Center, the Anti-Defamation
League, the National Asian Pacific American Legal
Consortium,
and the National Organization
for Women.
- Training: The
FBI conducts hundreds of operational
seminars, workshops, and training sessions annually
for local law
enforcement,
minority and religious organizations,
and community groups to promote cooperation
and reduce civil
rights
abuses.
Each year,
the FBI
also provides hate crimes training
for new agents, hundreds of current agents,
and thousands
of
police officers worldwide.
How
Hate Crimes are Investigated and
Prosecuted
- The
FBI initiates a hate crime investigation when an
allegation
is received
from a reliable source. Most
complaints are received from the victim, a
witness, or a
third party.
Many cases are also initiated
by media
reports, community
group
complaints, referrals
from Department of Justice or
U.S. Attorneys, and congressional inquiries.
- Under
guidelines developed
in conjunction
with the
Department of Justice, once
a complaint
is received, the FBI
will determine
if the matter warrants a preliminary
or full investigation.
- Once
a case is opened, a
logical investigation
is conducted within a
reasonable period of time.
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