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Puerto Rico to Investigate Murder of Gay Man as a Hate CrimeAfter meeting on Monday with the ACLU of Puerto Rico, the Puerto Rico Department of Justice has agreed to investigate the brutal murder of Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado as a hate crime. The Department of Justice has also agreed to work with the ACLU to train Judges and prosecutors on hate crimes prosecutions. Although the commonwealth has had sentencing guidelines since 2002 that give prosecutors and judges the ability to seek more severe punishment for hate crimes, prosecutors have never investigated a crime as a hate crime. After Mercado’s murder, local police officials showed a tremendous lack of sensitivity to the crime. Investigator Angel Rodriguez was quoted in local media reports as saying, "When these type of people get into this and go out into the streets like this, they know this can happen to them." The commonwealth had previously announced that it would not be prosecuting the crime as a hate crime, so its decision to further investigate will help send a strong message that it now intends to take seriously its obligations to protect the people from hate crimes. The ACLU is also hopeful that training judges and prosecutors will increase sensitivity throughout the criminal justice system. The ACLU of Puerto Rico received approximately 2000 calls, e-mails and letters asking it to help bring justice to the brutal murder. Needless to say, these letters were extremely helpful in getting the Department of Justice to reverse course.
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8 Responses to "Puerto Rico to Investigate Murder of Gay Man as a Hate Crime" |
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Nov 25th, 2009 at 12:47pm
"Armed gays don't get bashed."
www.PINKPISTOLS.org
Nov 25th, 2009 at 3:16pm
Of interest:
UK jails schizophrenic for maintaining right to silence
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/11/24/ripa_jfl/
Nov 26th, 2009 at 1:14am
OK, so it's not OK for bigots to brutally murder people because of their race, but queers like myself are fucking ASKING FOR IT?!
Methinks "Angel" should be fired for hate speech.
The fact that Pink Pistols needs to exist is sickening, but since self-defense is needed, at least someone is helping us with it.
Nov 27th, 2009 at 12:02am
I don't see where killing a gay is considered murder. I believe it's justice to kill gays.
Nov 27th, 2009 at 10:35pm
chuck, trolling for responses?
Dec 1st, 2009 at 2:23pm
Thank you Chuck it's good to know that the dream lives on.
Dec 10th, 2009 at 11:53am
Isnt all murder a hate crime? Orwellian bull shit.
Dec 15th, 2009 at 9:47pm
anon #7, Not all murder is hate crime. Some is done for profit. The hate crime laws exist for two reasons. First the crime, in addition to a crime against the immediate victim, is an act of terrorism against a group. Second, to overcome the problem that law enforcement in some jurisdictions share the same hatreds, resulting in decisions not to pursue some crimes. Hope this helps.