I canÂ’t help but be struck by where this story places the emphasis.

A woman who authorities said was sexually abused, beaten, stabbed and humiliated while held captive in a home for at least a week was repeatedly called a racial slur during the attacks, the victim's mother said.

So that’s the bit of information you want to emphasize – not that this woman was brutalized, but that someone dared to utter a racial slur while doing it. Frankly, I view that as the least disturbing part of the attack, with the incredible acts of violence and violation being significantly more important, and much more worthy of outrage.

Six people, all white, including a mother and son and a mother and daughter, have been arrested in connection with the alleged abduction of the 23-year-old black woman, sheriff's officials said Monday. Authorities were looking for two people they believe drove the woman to the home, Logan County Chief Deputy V.K. Dingess said Monday evening.

The FBI, which was asked by the sheriff's department to aid in the investigation, will look into whether a hate crime occurred.

And I say to you – who cares if this is a so-called “hate crime”? As vile and violent as these acts were, I cannot imagine that there is much need for any enhancement of the penalties or additional charges. And to be honest, I don’t care why this woman was brutalized – the mere fact that she was so cruelly abused should be sufficient to send the perps away for the duration of their natural lives.

Indeed, this story illustrates the utter inanity of “hate crime” laws. What needs to be punished here is not the words directed at the victim, or even the motive for the crime. Instead, we need to be punishing the very real and offensive criminal acts which were perpetrated upon the victim, without regard for side-show issues like race.

Posted by: Greg at 02:25 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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