- Should we punish fraudulent victims as vigorously as real criminals?
The idea was not just that there should be a social cost to making a dishonest claim, but that the cost should equal that borne by somebody who is accurately and correctly identified as a racist.
Without such a disincentive, there is no reason (other than decency and honesty, which may sometimes be in short supply) for people not to level such accusations insincerely.
Since Monday night I have been wondering, amid much else, whether some similar aspiration could be encouraged regarding hate crimes.
...It is possible it may now be added to the growing list of faked hate crimes in the US.
The journalist Andy Ngohas provided a useful list of some such cases here, and it is just extraordinary.
Cases like the pro-gay Episcopal church in Indiana which was vandalized with ‘Heil Trump’ graffiti after the election.
Like the Smollett case, this too was leaped upon on this as a demonstration of the new fascist era, until it turned out that the culprit was in fact the gay organist at the church.
...But then something happens that is real and you realize an even greater bit of damage that such faked hate crimes cause.
A damage which should mean we don’t just laugh them away.
...Faked hate crimes do a lot of things.
They increase societal distrust, they assault the truth and they inflame any existing racial or other communal tensions..."
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