Professor Amar Comments on Amish Hate Crime Case for Wall Street Journal
Vikram Amar, Associate Dean and Professor of Law at UC Davis School of Law, commented for the Wall Street Journal on the case of 16 Amish men who were found guilty of crimes including conspiracy, hate crimes, assault, and hiding evidence in a series of hair- and beard-cutting incidents against members of other Amish groups. The lead attorney for the defendants has said that he plans to appeal the use of the hate-crime statute, which some have claimed should not be applied to crimes that involve members of the same religious group.
Professor Amar said that "there is nothing newfangled or problematic" about the use of the hate-crime statute in attacks among members of the same religious community. "Obviously they have different conceptions of what it means to be a true Amish person. While rituals may seem the same from our point of view, it does matter if they perceive differences among themselves."
Vikram Amar, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Professor of Law with the UC Davis School of Law, is a national authority in the fields of constitutional law, civil procedure, criminal procedure, and remedies. His biweekly column for Justia.com, a leading provider of online legal information, centers on his expertise in constitutional law.