Various laws are described as providing higher punishment for hate crimes, but they generally don't focus on whether the defendant hated people with a particular identity. Rather, they focus on whether the defendant committed the crime at least in part because of the target's identity. Often that will stem from hatred or other identity-based hostility, but not always. An excerpt from the long U.S. v. Ritter, decided last week by the Fourth Circuit (in an opinion by Judge Julius Richardson, joined by Judges Robert King and Pamela Harris), offers a good illustration:
Defendant Daqua Ritter grew up in rural Allendale, South Carolina. Though he later moved away, he often returned there during summers. During his visits, he maintained a sexual relationship with victim Ernest "Dime" Doe—a "biological male" who "presented as a female."
While Doe openly referred to Ritter as Doe's "man" or "boyfriend," Ritter tried to keep the relationship secret. He often told Doe to delete their messages. And Ritter became angry whenever people brought up his relationship with Doe, stating on several occasions that he would beat Doe when others brought up their sexual relationship. Though Doe feared Ritter, their relationship continued.
When Doe was found shot dead in a car beside a rural road, rumors implicating Ritter quickly surfaced. Just hours earlier, Doe had been pulled over for speeding while Ritter was in the passenger seat. That stop was the last time that Doe was seen alive. Hours later, Doe was dead. And Ritter then showed up at his uncle's house—blocks away from the crime scene—asking for a ride into town. Before long, Ritter asked friends to dispose of his gun and burned his clothes in a barrel. This initiated a years-long investigation conducted by state and federal law enforcement.
A federal grand jury eventually indicted Ritter for [among other things] willfully causing bodily injury to Doe because of Doe's gender identity …. A jury convicted Ritter on all counts, and the district court sentenced him to life in prison….
Ritter … argu[es] that the evidence was insufficient to prove that he killed Doe "because of" Doe's "actual or perceived … gender identity." … [W]hat does it mean for somebody to act "because of" a given trait? … "[B]ecause of" incorporates "the traditional but-for causation standard." … So the government had to show that Ritter would not have killed Doe but for Doe's "actual or perceived … gender identity." The statute defines "gender identity" as "actual or perceived gender-related characteristics." …
[T]he evidence—viewed in the light most favorable to the government—was sufficient to lead a rational juror to conclude that Ritter killed Doe because of one of Doe's perceived gender-related characteristics: Doe's biological sex.
The evidence showed that the broader Allendale community knew that Doe was a biological male who presented as a woman. Ritter was very sensitive about people finding out that he was in a relationship with Doe, because Ritter didn't want people questioning his sexuality. So Ritter pressured Doe to keep their relationship secret, including by asking Doe to delete the messages they exchanged.
