Hate crime

⚖️ Law By CampusDown Wiki Editorial Team Last updated October 23, 2026

A hate crime is an offense motivated by bias against a victim’s group, such as race, religion, sexual orientation or disability. Many countries enhance penalties; Korea has no specific provision.

Contents

1. Definition
2. Hate speech vs hate crime
3. Why enhance?
4. Laws
5. Frequently asked questions
6. References

Definition

An existing crime plus a bias motive.

📌 At a glance

Groups: Race, religion, orientation, disability
Approach: Separate offense or sentence uplift

Hate speech vs hate crime

Hate speech concerns expression; hate crimes involve criminal acts.

Why enhance?

They send a message of threat to an entire community. *Wisconsin v. Mitchell* (1993) upheld enhancement.

Hate crimes are badly undercounted. If police do not record motive, they stay “ordinary assaults.”

Laws

US Shepard–Byrd Act (2009); UK mandatory uplift; Japan’s 2016 act has no penalties, though Kawasaki added criminal penalties in 2019; China punishes inciting ethnic hatred (Criminal Law Art. 249); Korea lacks a provision.

Frequently asked questions

Is hate speech a hate crime?: Not by itself.

References

Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, 18 U.S.C. § 249 (2009).
Hate Crime Statistics Act of 1990, 28 U.S.C. § 534 note (FBI, fbi.gov).
UK Sentencing Act 2020, ss. 66–67.
日本「本邦外出身者に対する不当な差別的言動の解消に向けた取組の推進に関する法律」(2016年).
川崎市差別のない人権尊重のまちづくり条例(2019年12月制定).
中华人民共和国刑法第二百四十九条、第二百五十条.

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This article was last updated on October 23, 2026. It is based on widely recognized original works and textbooks; when citing it in a paper, please check the original sources listed in the references.