Transgender woman's killer will be free in four years - World & National - The Empty Closet Crime of Passion and "Gay Panic" arguments don't hold much weight with me. If someone surprises you (you find your wife in bed with another man, say) but is not a threat, and your first reaction is to kill that person, you should not get credit for "a crime of passion." If your first reaction is to kill someone who is not a threat, you are a vicious murderer and should be sentenced accordingly.The "gay panic" defense is used a lot when the victim is transgender. In this case the judge bought the argument and handed down a ridiculous sentence. There are those who are claiming this is why we need hate-crime legislation. To them I say, no, this is why we need minimum sentencing laws.
It is the act that should be punished. What the mutant thought about the victim is irrelevant. Basing the sentence for the crime on what the criminal thought at the time is to enact thought crimes. Are we living in a Brave New World?
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