Attorney General Larry Long says he has never prosecuted a hate crime case during his 12 years as chief deputy attorney general and during his time as attorney general, which began in 2002.Jill Gusso, public information director for the South Dakota Unified Judicial System, said it's difficult to determine how many times hate crime cases have come before the courts. She did confirm that only four felony cases have seen convictions.Hate crime laws also exist at the federal level.
People who violate the state's hate crime law also might be in violation of a similar federal statute, Long said, and they could be charged in both jurisdictions.
If a crime can be proven to be motivated by a bias, a stricter prison sentence is possible in the federal system, according to U.S. Attorney Marty Jackley. Sentencing guidelines let judges add one to three years to a prison term for a hate crime, he said.It's still unknown if two Mitchell men will be charged with a hate crime for allegedly attacking a black man earlier this month.
Gary Bussmus, 49, and his son, Kyle, 21, are charged with beating a 20-year-old man outside a Mitchell bar. The victim's family claims the assault was racially motivated.State law says that "No person may maliciously and with the specific intent to intimidate or harass any person or specific group of persons because of that person's or group of persons' race, ethnicity, religion ancestry or national origin. Violation of this law is a Class 6 felony."
The interesting point here is that "number reported." How many go unreported because the law enfrocement attitudes are poor at recognizing or wanting to report them. Some very interesting comments in the Rapid Reply part of this story on-line. (O.M.)
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