Pittsburgh Hate Crime Attorney

What is and isn’t a hate crime?

Some of you may wonder, “Where is there a line between committing a hate crime and exercising your right to free speech?” That’s a very good question that rattles in the minds of many prosecutors handling hate crime cases.

Under the First Amendment, you have a right to freedom of speech, which means your opinion and personal beliefs are protected by law regardless of how hateful they are. However, when your words or actions cross the line and involve harassment, threats of bodily injury or harm, or result in actual harm to others, you can be charged with a hate crime if it is motivated by the victim’s protected characteristic.

Things to consider when in a hate crime case

When it comes to building a strong criminal defense case when you are being accused of or prosecuted for a hate crime, our experienced assault attorney in Pittsburgh recommends considering the following factors:

• Free speech: While the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution does protect your right to free speech, you cannot exercise this right if your conduct is motivated by bias or hatred based on the victim’s protected characteristic such as national origin, religion, skin color, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, or any other. Even when your thoughts or speech is offensive and hateful, it can be protected by the First Amendment but only as long as it’s not biased against a certain group based on their protected characteristics.
• Intent: Many lawyers and prosecutors tend to forget that not every crime committed against a gay person, Muslim, or African American is a hate crime. The defendant can be charged with a hate crime only if the crime was committed because of the victim’s sexual orientation, religion, or race. If there is no evidence to prove that the victim’s sexual orientation, religion, or race had anything to do with the crime, then you may be able to avoid aggravated penalties.