Sexual Orientation in State Hate Crime Laws: Exploring Social Construction and Criminal Law

Valcore, Jace

doi:10.1080/00918369.2017.1380992

Cited by 10 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Findings from this study show that some groups see widespread inclusion as protected classes in state hate crime laws, while others do not. Debates about the inclusion/exclusion of protected classes will persist, particularly for those whose inclusion is controversial, like law enforcement, homelessness, sexual orientation, and gender identity (Al-Hakim, 2015; Mason, 2022; Valcore, 2018; Walters et al, 2020). Policies should be adopted that show criminal justice actors and the public that, while states may not currently grant legal protection to certain groups, they are still vulnerable to hate crime victimization and should receive assistance if they are victimized.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although public attitudes toward sexual minorities have improved in recent years (Gallup, 2020; Pew Research Center, 2017), support for adding sexual orientation as a protected class in hate crime legislation has been accompanied by opposition (Blake, 2001; Gerstenfeld, 2013; Mogul et al, 2011). Opponents view sexual minorities as choosing to live an “immoral lifestyle,” one that state and federal governments should not support through the inclusion of sexual orientation as a protected class (Valcore, 2018; Whitlock, 2012). These views of sexual minorities arise from social, political, and religious groups that maintain certain moral values, in particular heteronormative views (Bills & Hayes, 2022; van der Toorn et al, 2017).…”

Section: Adoption Of Hate Crime Legislationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Contemporary Review of Hate Crime Legislation in the United States

Bills

Vaughn

2022

Criminal Justice Policy Review

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Hate-motivated crime remains problematic in the United States. California passed the first hate crime law in 1978; Congress followed in 1990. States continue to amend their hate crime legislation, producing an amalgam of statutory provisions. This article creates a conceptual framework from which to classify hate crime legislation across the 50 states and Washington, DC. Laws were identified through Westlaw. Analyses compared the types of crimes covered, discrete and insular minorities protected, prosecutorial alternatives, mandates for law enforcement agencies, and additional rights provided to victims among states’ legislation. Considerable variation in scope and content of hate crime legislation exists among states, leaving several vulnerable groups unprotected, law enforcement underprepared, and victim rights and resources sparse. Future directions for hate crime policy and legislation are discussed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Adoption Of Hate Crime Legislationmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Contemporary Review of Hate Crime Legislation in the United States

Bills

Vaughn

2022

Criminal Justice Policy Review

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“…To the extent that same-sex marriage legislation aggravates the social acceptance of LGBT individuals, it is possible to observe increased harassment and victimization of sexual minorities. States had already addressed criminal offenses based on gender, race, age, religion, or disability status in the form of hate crime laws, and 30 states and D.C. had amended by the end of 2008 their existing hate crime laws to include sexual orientation in their provisions (Movement Advancement Program, 2020;Valcore, 2018). In 2009, all states were mandated to address sexual orientation-motivated hate crimes due to implementation at the federal level of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act (U.S. Department of Justice, 2009).…”

Section: Status Of Same-sex Equal Rights Legislation and Nondiscrimination Laws Across The United Statesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Same‐sex marriage laws, LGBT hate crimes, and employment discrimination charges

Nikolaou

2021

Southern Economic Journal

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The impact of same-sex marriage laws on the victimization of sexual minorities has not received much attention in the literature. Using state-level panel data within a difference-in-differences framework, I examine how the legalization of same-sex marriage affects hate crimes. The results show that same-sex marriage laws decrease sexual orientation-motivated hate crimes, with stronger effects on gay men. This is consistent with the laws increasing tolerance toward and acceptance of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals, further supported by complementary analysis from Google Trends data. This is also the first study to examine the effects of marriage equality on allegations of employment discrimination due to sexual orientation based on information from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The findings support that marriage equality laws have an additional beneficial effect: the laws not only decrease hate crimes, but they also decrease the incidence of employment discrimination (at worst, the laws do not affect discriminatory practices).

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“…Prior research utilizing this theoretical framework to other policy fields offers evidence of the value of applying a social constructionist typology to understanding target populations in low-income solar programs in the U.S. For example, Drew (2013) utilizes the social construction and policy design theory to explain how and why the U.S. federal government pursued a policy agenda promoting homeownership for low-income households and argues that the social construction of homeownership, low-income households, and the private mortgage industry were instrumental in the policy design process. Similarly, Valcore (2018) applies the framework to examine the hate crime policy to explore whether or not variations in the social and political status of gays and lesbians are related to the inclusion of sexual orientation in the hate crime policy at the state level and contends that target groups seeking hate crime law protection have positive social constructions.…”

Section: Deviantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy Justice Through Solar: Constructing and Engaging Low-Income Households

Stephens

2021

Front. Sustain. Cities

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Minimal research has assessed the policy process of developing solar programs at the state level, and no research yet has investigated how these policies characterize and engage with the target populations they are designed to benefit. Grounded in Schneider and Ingram's social construction framework (SCF) and applying computational methods (i.e., text analysis and machine learning), this research examines how low-income households are socially constructed in policy provisions, how their social construction has been reinforced through public participation, and how to classify low-income households among target populations. Based on the case of Massachusetts, this research analyzes the 2020 Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART) Emergency Regulation as well as its public comments. We find that low-income households constitute a visible target group of this program and their characterizations as “deserving policy benefits” are positively constructed by policy makers. Furthermore, the conveyed messages and attitudes regarding the assigned benefits to low-income households have been reinforced through public participation. Despite this advantageous positive construction, low-income households have less political power (i.e., measured by topic prevalence in the public comments) than other target groups such as large corporations (e.g., solar developers or solar installers) and less ability to participate or be represented in the policy process, making their voices less likely to be heard by policy makers. With positive social construction but weaker political power, low-income households fall into the category of “dependents” instead of “advantaged,” which may engender undesirable policy outcomes minimizing the intended long-term benefits of the policies to low-income households. This research reveals procedural injustices in energy policies and highlights the importance of more inclusive policy-making process, while also offering a novel theoretical lens to understand the rationale and dynamics of developing solar statutes targeting low-income households.

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Sexual Orientation in State Hate Crime Laws: Exploring Social Construction and Criminal Law

Cited by 10 publications

References 32 publications

A Contemporary Review of Hate Crime Legislation in the United States

A Contemporary Review of Hate Crime Legislation in the United States

Same‐sex marriage laws, LGBT hate crimes, and employment discrimination charges

Energy Justice Through Solar: Constructing and Engaging Low-Income Households

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