Comments on: Questions about gay teen murder in Baltimore

By: Gabriel Lopez-Allen

Gabriel Lopez-Allen — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 20:07:22 +0000

This is absolutely abhorent and inhumane. Any crime against a person such as this is downright evil, but to do something like that to a child is sick. I hope that justice is served and that the perpetrator spends the rest of his life in jail. I used to be for the death penalty in the past, but my views have changed and I feel that it is more of a punishment for the man to spend the rest of his life in confinement unable to participate in society until the day he passes. (RIP Jason Mattison)

By: Gerald Callaio

Gerald Callaio — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:32:23 +0000

OMG…this is absolutely horrific…it seems like there has been a recent spike in LGBT hate crimes; resulting in brutal, cold-bloodied murder. When will our society and species ever stop hating??? May God help his friends, family and all of us.

By: Drewski

Drewski — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 04:56:25 +0000

666…still trolling? If you checked the link to the Baltimore Sun article, you’d see that Jason was a vibrant young BLACK man. But too busy trying to stir something up to attend to that inconvenient fact, I see.

By: jessieka

jessieka — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:42:49 +0000

Rape is a very violent & yes a HATE crime!!! ThaT alone but the repeated stabbing added how much HATE is required to qualify??Rape is hideouse enough but to be betrayed by “family” by bascily being feed to a monster!gay or not he was martered & how much was the aunt paid??? EVERYONE in that house over 21 need a life sentence.You excpect animals to attack but you dont think your “family” will hand you over for the slaughter…….

By: randy

randy — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:23:37 +0000

Let’s just remember that rape is a crime of power, and so are hate crimes. Many people who commit hate crimes against gay people also rape their victims.

So until more comes out, I have to wonder where these shrill cries of “it wasn’t a hate crime” come from…

By: teachermahn

teachermahn — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:16:55 +0000

Each crime is looked at on a case by case basis. In order for it to be a hate crime, it needs to meet certain criteria. Unfortunately some of that criteria is subjective, so MANY hate crimes are not tried as hate crimes.

Prosecutors decide which will more likely have the larger jail term and are winnable, it is a sad situation, but until hate crime legislation in each state is reevaluated, this is the way it will be.

By: Facebook User

Facebook User — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 22:55:01 +0000

“Cheerice Iverson, an 11 yr old black child, was raped and murdered,pissed on by two white men. One went to jail for life, the other went ot college and bragged about this portion of his life. This was not charged as a hate crime”

So, because the law failed in the case of Iverson, it should do likewise in all cases by ignoring the issue of rape & murder being a hate crime? No, thank you.

By: 366gay

366gay — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:54:44 +0000

This is clearly rape and murder, a heinous crime, but not a hate crime. To try to make it a hate crime,would be a GLBT political plough. A life sentence or death sentence, depending on the laws of the state, are served by a charge of special circumstances murder and rape.

Blacks are killed and murdered all the time, but not all of these crimes are charged as hate crimes.

Cheerice Iverson, an 11 yr old black child, was raped and murdered,pissed on by two white men. One went to jail for life, the other went ot college and bragged about this portion of his life. This was not charged as a hate crime.

By: Facebook User

Facebook User — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:46:42 +0000

Ginelle – Although this is tragic, it’s not clear this was a hate crime with the information we have so far. I do support the new hate crime law but atrocity this may not fit the bill.

In this particular case it seems more about the rape than about sex or hate. I’m sure he had hate in his heart but at least initially, it doesn’t indicate the victim was targeted for his orientation.

Of course, we’ll know better as the details come out.

I’m leary of people trying to use the new hate crimes law for situations where it’s not a hate crime and the victim wasn’t targeted for their sexual orientation. It’ll only serve to water down the power of this and give our foes a reason to say this law isn’t needed or is being applied contrary to the intent of the law.

By: Ginelle

Ginelle — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:33:05 +0000

Another horrible crime and another destroyed beautiful life at the hands of hate.