Hate Crime Statutes ― A Public Policy and Law Enforcement Dilemma

??????This Brief provides a clearly outlined and accessible overview of the challenges in creating and enforcing hate crime legislation in the United States. As the author explains, while it is generally not controversial that hate crime behavior should be stopped, the question of how to do so effectively is complex.

Frank S. Pezzella, PhD (Criminal Justice, SUNY Albany) is an Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. His research interests include Race and Crime, Hate Crimes and the influence of African American religiosity on the behavior of formerly incarcerated persons. This work was published in early 2014 in Springer’s Journal of Religion and Health under the title “Religion and the Behavioral Health of Formerly Incarcerated Men”. Prior to his current position he worked as an analyst and Deputy Chief Clerk for the NYS Unified Court System. He conducted research for legislative approval to implement community and problem solving courts. Such specialized courts such as substance abuse, domestic violence, reentry, and mental health courts are now present throughout all 62 counties in New York State. Dr. Pezzella has also worked on the expansion and institutionalization of the original Manhattan Bail Project for Vera Institute’s Pre-trial Services Agency (now the New York City Criminal Justice agency (CJA)) charged with assessing NYC defendants’ eligibility for release on recognizance under evidenced based criteria that defendants will likely to return to the jurisdiction of the court.