Recently in Hate Crime Category

It's an interesting sentence I've never seen utilized before: punish the insensitive with some sensitivity training. That's gotta be worse than jail!

Joseph Storm was re-arraigned today on charges stemming from an alleged assault on a homosexual, No-on-Prop.-8 button wearer in Torrance with a "Yes on Prop. 8" lawn sign. He returns to court for a pretrial on Jan. 22. A Feb. 17 trial date was set, but these things are not in stone.

Anyone who regularly reads the Daily Breeze's user comments would not be surprised to hear about the amount of anger and hatred that is targeted at Latinos. Experts say a lot of the negative feelings come from the increasingly hot immigration debate.

Here's this from the Associated Press today:

Advocates say rhetoric fuels anti-Hispanic crime
By DEEPTI HAJELA and FRANK ELTMAN
Associated Press Writers

NEW YORK (AP) _ It was meant to be a short jaunt to a friend's home to watch a movie.

The FBI has released stats showing crime is down in 2007, but check out this clock that's within the press release. It shows how often crimes occur across the country:

In 2007, hate crime in Los Angeles County rose 28 percent, from 594 to 763, the highest level in five years, according to the Human Relations Commission's annual report. The 36-page report is chock full of interesting statistics about the types of hate crimes being perpetuated, against who and where. It takes a special look at some specific areas, including white supremacists, gangs, homophobia and hate crimes arising out of the war in the Middle East.

In the South Bay last year, there were a reported 87 hate crimes. The most reports were in the San Fernando Valley, which had 190, while the area with the least was the Westside, with 37, which includes Playa del Rey, Marina del Rey and Westchester.