Hate crimes do not always carry a commonly understood meaning. The dictionary defines a hate crime as "any of various crimes when motivated by hostility to the victim as a member of a group (as one based on color, creed, gender, or sexual orientation)" (Siasco "Defining"). A more in depth definition for hate crimes is in Section 28003 (a) of the 1994 Crimes Act is as follows: "a crime in which the defendant intentionally selects a victim, or in the case of a property crime, the property that is the object of the crime, because of the actual or perceived race, color, national origin, ethnicity, gender, disability or sexual orientation of any person." In addition to this definition, at least five other federal statutes address hate crimes and thirty- seven states also contain state statutes that approach the issue (Gondles "Hate Crime"). .
An important factor in defining hate crimes is to recognize the underlying messages of these crimes. According to Dr. Jack McDevitt, a criminologist at Northeaster University in Boston, says that they are different from other crimes because the offenders are sending a message to members of a certain group saying that they are not welcomed in a particular neighborhood, community, school, or workplace ("Hate"). They intend to send a message that will place fear, intimidation, and insecurity within the community as a whole (Lee "Hate Crimes are"). There are several factors that motivate hate crimes. Racial hatred, resentment of ethnic minorities, religious discrimination, gender-base bias, ridicule for disabled people, and disdain of homosexuals are considered the most rampant factors. .
Studies report that the largest determinant of hate crimes is racial bias, with African Americans at the greatest risk. The Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1999 states that sixty-one percent of hate crimes were motivated by racial discrimination. The report also blames about eighteen percent of the hate crimes on religious prejudice and seventeen percent against sexual orientation.
