An Unjust Chicago

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In my humanities class, "A Nations Argument", we recently finished our second unit called Antithesis. In this unit, we learned about logical fallacies, premises, and the difference between valid and sound arguments. We learned about life in the US after separating from Britain. We looked closely at the United States Constitution and how the amendments were first used in supreme court cases. We met virtually with public defender Connie Jordan, 27th ward Alderman Burnett, and 40th ward Alderman Vasquez. To end this unit, our teacher asked us all to amend an ordinance in the Chicago Municipal code that we believe is unjust. I picked Chicago's hate-crime ordinance. 



Unjust Chicago Municipal Code:

8-4-085 Hate crimes. 

(a) No person shall, by reason of any motive or intent relating to, or any antipathy, animosity or hostility based upon, the actual or perceived race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, ancestry, sexual orientation, active or prior military status, or mental or physical disability of another individual or group of individuals:

(1) Commit assault as defined in Section 12-1 of the Illinois Criminal Code of 1961 (Illinois Revised Statutes Chapter 38, paragraph 12-1); or 

(2) Deface, mar, injure, destroy or remove property in violation of Section 8-4-040 of this Code; or 

(3) Commit trespass as defined in Section 8-4-050 of this Code; or (4) Commit vandalism as defined in Section 8-4-060 of this Code; or 

(5) Disturb a place of worship in violation of Section 8-4-110 of this Code; or (6) Engage in harassment by telephone as defined in Section 1-1 of “An Act to prohibit the use of telephone and telegraph lines for the sending of certain messages” (Illinois Revised Statutes Chapter 134, paragraph 16-4.1). 

(b) Any person who violates this section shall be subject to a fine of $500.00 or may be imprisoned for not more than six months, or may be subject to both such fine and imprisonment. In addition to such penalty, any person found guilty of violating this section may be ordered to pay restitution to the aggrieved party, and may be ordered to perform community service pursuant to Section 1-4-120 of this Code. 

(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, any conduct in violation of this section that is punishable under state or federal law by a term of imprisonment in excess of six months shall not be prosecuted under this section. 

(d) As used in this section, “sexual orientation” means heterosexuality, homosexuality or bisexuality. 

(e) As used in this section, "active or prior military status" means any active duty or former military service personnel of the United States Armed Services, including the Reserves, National Guard and the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC). (Added Coun. J. 12-19-90, p. 27888; Amend Coun. J. 11-18-15, p. 14409, § 3)

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This rule is unjust because it does not include transgender people or immigrants as a protected class under this ordinance. This rule is unjust because it does not define what a protected class is and who is protected under these classes. This rule does not apply to crimes committed against people because of the status of their citizenship, or crimes targeting people due to their gender identity. The rule doesn’t state that people can commit hate crimes against people of the same race, color, religion, age, sexual orientation, etc.

P: there are crimes that are being committed against members of protected classes across the United States and here in Chicago

P: Crimes motivated by hate for the victim’s actual or perceived identity are defined as hate crimes

P: it is the duty of the local government to provide for the protection and safety of its resident

C: policy must be implemented to protect the residents of the City of Chicago from hate crimes

This ordinance should apply when someone or someplace is targeted because it falls under one or more of the protected classes. (see definition of a protected class.) Someone can still be accused and charged with a hate crime even if they themselves fall under one or more of these protected classes. For example, a man with Jewish roots could still be charged with a hate crime against another Jewish man as long as the first man’s attack was hatefully motivated by the fact that the second man was Jewish.  

P: in Chicago's Marquette Park Neighborhood, on May 31st, 2020 a woman was murdered by a man because she was transgender

P: in Chicago's McKinley Park Neighborhood, on August 25th, 2020 a street vendor was accosted and robbed by two men because he is an immigrant

P: outrage is not enough and the City of Chicago must fight hard to keep vulnerable members of our community protected and bring their attackers to justice

P: it is the policy of the City of Chicago to protect residents from crime, regardless of identity

C: Crimes motivated by hate for the victim’s actual or perceived identity and status under any of the protected classes will not be tolerated by any individual or group

If this code is amended, this means that many crimes motivated by hate for the victim’s identity will be properly prosecuted. Under the new code, any crimes targeting people due to their citizenship status,  gender identity, etc. will be properly prosecuted as a hatefully motivated crime. 

The hate crime amendment relates to the Free Excercise clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Free Exercise clause states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”. I would say this means that Congress should protect an individual’s right to exercise their religion. I would also say that Congress should protect an individual’s right to exercise their religion when that right is infringed upon by others. 

The hate crime amendment also relates to the Equal Protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Equal Protection clause states that “nor shall any State ... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws”.  This means that everyone is equally protected under the law.

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In conclusion, this was a really interesting project. I got to research a lot about the current Chicago Municipal code. I have learned a lot about ordinances that protect those in protected classes in this city. I also got to look at how the Chicago Municipal code connects with the US Constitution. I am definitely going to look at the Chicago Municipal code more often, there are some pretty interesting ordinances written into the code. 

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