Vulnerability as a Negative Attitude

 It has been suggested that people with disabilities may be perceived as victims

(McMahon et al., 2004; Sorensen, 2001). McMahon et al. asserts that disability experts

attribute the perception of vulnerability of people with disabilities to negative attitudes. If

people with disabilities are perceived as vulnerable or victims, the process of teasing out

whether the perpetrator was motivated by actuarial reasons or animus may become

increasingly more difficult.

The definition of a bias crime is one that is committed in whole or in part by the

offender's bias. Therefore, even if there are bias indicators at a crime scene of a person

with a disability, having elements of both bias and actuarial motivation could make the

elements of the crime scene ambiguous, at best. Attitude accessibility theory suggests that

if the law enforcement officer holds the attitude that people with disabilities are more

vulnerable, being in the presence of a person with a disability might activate that attitude

and become the salient feature of the investigation. From a more practical perspective,

the ambiguity created by having bias crime indicators and actuarial indicators would

result in the officer deferring to a state attorney whose job is to gather "enough" evidence

of bias motivation, often defined as 3-4 bias incidents in a sequence (M. Endara, personal

communication, August 7, 2005), to prove bias beyond a reasonable doubt.

 Summary and Conclusion

 Bias crimes have garnered the attention of American citizens over the past decade.

Bias crimes are regarded as being more severe than other crimes because of the attempt

on behalf of the perpetrator to marginalize a particular group of citizens, thereby sending

a clear message to all members of the targeted group. For this reason, bias motivated

crimes strike at the very heart of the American value that all men are created equal.