Since tPP began, we have noticed a rapid increase in defendants being charged with hate crimes. In some cases, hate crimes are used as ‘enhancements’ to other charges, while in other cases, such a designation represents a rhetorical attempt to label the crime as bias-motivated.
In order to help capture this emerging reality, the tPP team has added a new variable to capture whether or not a case is labeled under the hate crime designation. After much discussion, debate, and consultation with scholars and Advisory Board members, we decided that if a case has a hate crime designation then it automatically proves, as far as the government is concerned, that has been motivated by socio-political aim.
These changes have been included in our latest release of our Code Book, as shown below:
Many thanks to tPP Steering Team member Katie Blowers for work on this.