The Vail Daily of Colorado reports: 'Hate Crimes' Rarely Prosecuted.
‘Ethnic intimidation’ is a crime in Colorado, but activists and police say it’s is not widely reported.
By JK Perry, 1 September 2005
Letecia Harrison, a Hispanic activist, says teenagers fire racial slurs at each other more often than do adults in Eagle County. Hispanics born in the United States can be aggressive toward Mexican immigrants because of social and economic class differences, Harrison said, while whites and Hispanics often ignore one another.
A crime called “ethnic intimidation,” which was passed in 1988 and is dubbed a hate crime by many, was expanded recently by the state legislature to include sexual orientation.
[Editor: I don't see the connection between Letecia Harrison's claim that US-born Hispanics harrass Mexican "immigrants" and the journalist's reference to ethnic intimidation. If Hispanics are intimidating other Hispanics, how is that a hate crime? ]
The Ethnic Intimidation Act makes it a crime to harass or attack a person based on their race, color, ancestry, religion or sexual orientation. An attack, considered a felony, is punishable by up to three years in prison and a $100,000 fine.
Within the past four years, Vail police have filed ethnic intimidation charges just once. In January 2005, a man called the Polish boyfriend of his ex-girlfriend a “polack.” The charge was later dropped because the slur was not considered egregious.
Avon Det. Mike Leake said the charge is not difficult to prove.
“If people are engaged in a harassment case verbally, and they make a statement referring to the person’s ethnic origin, then it’s ethnic intimidation,” Leake said. [Editor: Oh really? Someone should tell that to the NYPD about the Marine Park incident.]
Oftentimes, ethnic intimidation charges are filed to enhance other violations, said Krista Jaramillo, spokeswoman for Avon police. [Editor: Enhance or trump up charges? ] “It works essentially just like the domestic violence … it has to be in conjunction with something else,” Jaramillo said.
An FBI report found 82 hate crimes were committed in Colorado during 2003, although not every law enforcement agency in the county or state reports the statistic to the bureau.
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