Jacob Sullum on Dharun Ravi's Hateless Hate Crime
After Dharun Ravi was convicted of "bias intimidation" crimes that carry a penalty of up to 10 years in prison, many people wondered why he had rejected a plea deal that would have kept him out of jail. Ravi's lawyer explained that the 20-year-old defendant's parents "didn't believe their son acted with hate, or bias, and they didn't want him labeled like that for life." Apparently, says Senior Editor Jacob Sullum, they did not realize you can be convicted of a hate crime without hating anyone.