Criminal Law- Victor Diego

 

Review this brief article talking about the assault of a gay/transgendered man in Hollywood Victor Diego

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/03/victor-diego-transgender-hate-crime-_n_3378670.html

Discuss with your classmates whether offenders should be punished more severely for committing crimes based on a person’s demographic characteristics, such as the person who was victimized in the story?  If you were a public defender charged with defending the person who committed this crime, what would you use as a defense?