The ideologies responsible for the presence and absence of a sexual orientation provision in hate crime legislation

UNCG Author/Contributor (non-UNCG co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Tionna Lael Haberman (Creator)
Institution
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG )
Web Site: http://library.uncg.edu/
Advisor
Paul Luebke

Abstract: The goal of this research was to explain the presence and absence of sexual orientation provisions in hate crime legislation beyond the rhetoric of Republican or Democrat, conservative or liberal. I applied Paul Luebke's theory of traditionalist and modernizer ideologies to the legislative process of expanding bias crime legislation to include sexual orientation in Kansas and North Carolina. In an effort to uncover the relationship between legislators' voting records and political ideologies, I conducted a document analysis examining local newspaper coverage of the proposed legislation. I concluded traditionalism was responsible for the failure of legislation proposed to include sexual orientation in North Carolina hate crime legislation during the 1999-2000 legislative session. I was unable to determine if either traditionalists or modernizers accounted for the initial inclusion of sexual orientation in Kansas bias crime legislation. Kansas modernizers were eventually successful in their efforts to expand the victims protected by and offenders punished by hate crime legislation during the 2001-2002 legislative session after similar attempts were repeatedly blocked by traditionalist legislators. Both states exhibited a pattern of legislative failures as a consequence of the presence and strength of traditionalist legislators who campaigned against modernizers' efforts to address crimes motivated by prejudice including a sexual orientation bias.

Additional Information

Publication
Thesis
Language: English
Date: 2009
Keywords
Hate Crimes, Ideologies, Kansas Legislation, North Carolina Legislation, Sexual Orientation
Subjects
Hate crimes $x Political aspects.
Ideology $x United States.
Sexual orientation $x Political aspects.
Hate crimes $x Law and legislation $z North Carolina.
Hate crimes $x Law and legislation $z Kansas.

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