1. Hate-crime legislation is controversial and multifaceted. It can involve regulating hate speech or symbolic speech, or it can involve sentencing enhancement penalties for crimes committed with bias or hate as a motivating factor. Supporters of such legislation argue that these crimes are more likely to provoke retaliatory crimes, inflict emotional harms on victims, and incite community unrest. Opponents argue that these laws create thought crimes, and that they value some victims over others, creating disparate or unequal treatment of victims.

2. I support sentencing enhancement penalties for hate crimes. I believe that these crimes can have an even greater impact on society than regular crimes, and that they should be treated with greater severity. I also believe that such laws can help to discourage hateful behavior, and that they are an effective way to ensure justice and protect vulnerable populations.

3. In the Jussie Smollett case, he was convicted of 16 counts of disorderly conduct for filing a false police report and was sentenced to two years of probation and community service. I believe that the sentence was too lenient, as it does not reflect the severity of the crime. I feel that a more appropriate sentence would have been jail time, and likely a longer sentence than two years of probation.