You can call it a hate crime. But why should your attackers be charged more or less then mine? I'm sure if someone who attacked a gay guy were to get a smaller time in prison you'd be rather upset, no? 

Sorry but I don't know what you mean in context of what I just wrote.

Also I don't think a dictionary is suited to determine what's fair.

But more importantly: do you consider your attacker getting more jailtime more important than protecting a group that has a history of being attacked for being just what they are?

read rocketpig's post again.

They are a lot of stupid reasons why someone might hate another guy.

If they don't get a higher punishment for that, why should the one who beat you ?

yes i agree with him BUT like you just said  "STUPID" reasons are different 

now if you beat or kill someone cause of color, sexual preference, nationality etc those are BOLD and extreme reasons not stupid reasons 

It was a gay bar (not a regular bar), the old gay guy did not hit back, and the criminal yelled homophobic slurs while he was beating his victim. He was also there specifically to pick a fight (after all why would a homophobic staright guy be doing in a gay bar, other than wanting to beat gays up)?

That's actually how things used to be in the past.

Ok, I am completely at odds with myself over hate crime laws. I agree with the idea that intention should have an effect on the sentence - this is basically the defining difference between murder and manslaughter and it really does make sense to me. However I don't really see how the motive of hating somebody for their skin colour, or their sexuality is greater than any other motive that does not relate to provocation. Unprovoked attacks should all probably be treated in a similar manner in my opinion.

Also with respect to this case intention is also important. The man who did this was clearly an arsehole, however he did not go out with the intention to cause this man brain damage. The assault he did (purposefully) ended up causing brain damage and he should be held accountable for that, but it is a lesser crime than causing the brain damage on purpose. If the six years is a non-parole period then I can see it as being on the low end of the reasonable scale.

Also the twelve years for those racists is completely unreasonable for the scale of their crime, in the relative scale of crimes I believe this ranks much lower than rape for example, which often has lesser sentences than this.

///This post was made while I was drunk. So sorry if it's somewhat unreasonable.

He should have got a lot longer, and i'm not sure how these things work but cant this guy get released early for good behavior, imo its absolutly disgusting. and even if he didnt intend to cause brain damage he still wilingly commited a manelvolent based on the mans sexuality which is completely unacceptable.

This guy should definately go to jail for life. He destroyed another mans life because of his sexual preference? Whats his problem?
Honestly, these kind of people should not exist. If he dies he will free the world of his stupid presence. I may be harsh but look what these people cause.

6 years is about right, maybe slightly long if anything.

In my opinion this is what the justice system should be:

- Murder = automatic death penalty, unless it is undisputably an accident in which case it could be anything from like 10-30 years.

- Rape = 20 years everyone in prison should find out you're a rapist (multiple rapes especially if violent = death penalty)

- Child molestation/sexual assault = at LEAST 20 years and EVERYONE in jail finds out you're a child molester so you can be butt raped and then murdered in prison

- Theft, depending on the amount, can be anywhere from 5-15 years plus you get your own personal property taken away doubling the amount you stole

- Assaults: A little mix up is no big deal but something like is described in the OP would maybe be 5 years and the other guy gets a free shot on you if he so chooses.

Also I should note, racism/prejudism has NO EFFECT ON WHAT THE SENTENCING WILL BE if I had my way. What's it matter what the reason for the assault is, the fact is he assaulted a guy. If the guy that did it was gay and he hit a straight guy this wouldn't even be an issue.