The Justice System is imperfect, made up of imperfect people, that live in an imperfect world and make imperfect decisions. Sometimes decisions make sense and sometimes it looses its logic completely. Feedback loops to the Justice System is helpful to create stronger systems that reflect the needs of people. Feedback is not so much a criticism as an opportunity for improvement.
Building trust means always acting with a level of integrity in a way that leads to the best outcomes for all parties involved. The authority is thus bound to a moral value system that enhances the functioning of a wider community.
Because of the limited resources (financial and human) there are choices as to what cases to investigate and which ones to not expend resources. Those choices may be practical in nature but should not be based in racial, religious, or political affiliations.
What we want to avoid is people engaging in criminal behavior with the belief that certain groups will receive preferential treatment based on norms that violate central Constitutional values. Assuming that the Constitution is central to our American values it should act as a guide to direction.
"A free pass" prompts people to believe that hate based crimes in society are an acceptable outlets for personal problems and mental health issues.
Cases with the most horrific behaviors are pursued while those of smaller consequence fall off the edge of the desk. Most of the hate crime behavior is on the smaller level but can have significant impact over time.
Sometimes not pursuing a cases is based on the practicality of obtaining a prosecution but sometimes it is because of similarity and culture. Its something that is part of human nature and without recognizing this bias in ourselves to prefer people similar to ourselves we are unable to fairly offer justice.
When behavior is intentionally designed to target minorities and radicalize followers I don't believe it is wise to not hold perpetrators accountable. While jail time isn't necessary in all cases, "accountability" is a must. Without accountability we can expect such behaviors to be repeated when the "coast is clear".
Our state, our nation, and its legal institutions have a responsibility to be adaptive by nature. Failure to changes our thoughts, feeling, and hearts when our future rests on coming to awareness about creating systems that supports human development. Stopping the "free pass" for hate based behaviors means designing a system that codes behavior accurately for analysis and solution. Without change we will experience this problem over and over in an environment that welcomes it.
Opportunities for Hate Crime Reform Michigan-Better Coding and Better Solutions“If the misery of the poor be caused not by the laws of nature, but by our institutions, great is our sin.”
― Voyage of the Beagle
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