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reporting of hate crimes in Lancaster, California. 322 If this statistic is any indication of the rise in false reports of hate crimes, we will likely witness such an abundance of hoaxes that real hate crimes will go unnoticed, and victims may not believed.
Some vipers of hate crime hoaxes claim their pranks are justified because their goal is to raise awareness of racism and hate crimes. Several campus pranks emerge in this category. Dawn Turner Trice states it eloquently when she says:
The whole thing kind of makes you wonder why, in a world with so many examples of hate readily available at one’s fingertips, anybody would feel the need to manufacture it. Perhaps youthful exuberance and idealism clouded good common sense, allowing Saide to believe that his desire to get people thinking about race – however noble the goal – justified concocting a story of a hate crime.323
Mr. Saide is wrong. There is no situation where a hoax is the catalyst for opening dialogue. In no instance has a hoax enhanced relations amongst different races. This is not free speech. Speech, or “fighting words” are not constitutionally protected when they incite or may incite groups to possible violence.324 One could certainly argue that the hate crime hoax, regardless of the intent of the viper, could easily incite campus race riots. “Universities should confront offensive by rebuttal, John Milton, John Stuart Mill, and Oliver Wendell Holmes had it right: truth doesn’t need
322 Solomon Moore, “Black Youth Admits He Lied About Hate Crime; Hoax: Lancaster Student Who Claimed Three Skinheads Assaulted Him Confesses He Got Into Fight with Two Black Classmates,” Los Angeles Times, January 27, 2000, p. 3.
323 Saide was a college student who claimed to be a victim of anti-Muslim slurs. He exploited the anti-Muslim sentiments arising from post-September 11, 2001fears of terrorism. One might question whether this hoax should have been prosecuted under the federal anti-hoax terrorism statute.
Dawn Turner Trice, “Hate-Crime Hoax a Misguided Way to Make a Point,” Chicago Tribune, November 24, 2003, p. 1.
324 David B. Magleby, David M. O’Brien, Paul C. Light, J.W. Peltason, and Thomas E. Cronin, Government by the People (22nd edition), Pearson Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, 2008.
Object Description
| Title | An argument for the criminal hoax |
| Author | Pellegrini, Laura A. |
| Author email | user1963@yahoo.com; teachpolsci@yahoo.com |
| Degree | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | Political Science |
| School | College of Letters, Arts and Sciences |
| Date defended/completed | 2008-08-20 |
| Date submitted | 2008 |
| Restricted until | Unrestricted |
| Date published | 2008-10-13 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Renteln, Alison Dundes |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Wong, Janelle S. Newland, Chester A. |
| Abstract | Hoaxes are part of the fabric of history. While many provide humor and lighthearted joy, the criminal hoax does not. To date, researchers have included aspects of the criminal hoax in larger academic works. This is an original typology that sets forth the criminal hoax as a distinct part of the larger field of law and public policy. This work provides newly created definitions including four distinct categories of hoaxes: the monetary hoax, the attention getter hoax, the hate crime hoax and the racial hoax. It further illustrates these types with actual detailed accounts of hoaxes and provides insights to each one. It makes policy recommendations concerning the four categories of needs: 1. legislative action, 2. a nationwide statistical database of hoax events, 3. media involvement, and 4. law enforcement training and action to deal with criminal hoaxes. Finally, it recommends further research to identify the causes and motivations of vipers. The ultimate goal of this project is to find ways to eliminate criminal hoaxes. |
| Keyword | criminal hoax; hoax categories |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m1659 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Rights | Pellegrini, Laura A. |
| Repository name | Libraries, University of Southern California |
| Repository address | Los Angeles, California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Filename | etd-Pellegrini-2397 |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume26/etd-Pellegrini-2397.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 112 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Repository email | cisadmin@lib.usc.edu |
| Full text | 106 reporting of hate crimes in Lancaster, California. 322 If this statistic is any indication of the rise in false reports of hate crimes, we will likely witness such an abundance of hoaxes that real hate crimes will go unnoticed, and victims may not believed. Some vipers of hate crime hoaxes claim their pranks are justified because their goal is to raise awareness of racism and hate crimes. Several campus pranks emerge in this category. Dawn Turner Trice states it eloquently when she says: The whole thing kind of makes you wonder why, in a world with so many examples of hate readily available at one’s fingertips, anybody would feel the need to manufacture it. Perhaps youthful exuberance and idealism clouded good common sense, allowing Saide to believe that his desire to get people thinking about race – however noble the goal – justified concocting a story of a hate crime.323 Mr. Saide is wrong. There is no situation where a hoax is the catalyst for opening dialogue. In no instance has a hoax enhanced relations amongst different races. This is not free speech. Speech, or “fighting words” are not constitutionally protected when they incite or may incite groups to possible violence.324 One could certainly argue that the hate crime hoax, regardless of the intent of the viper, could easily incite campus race riots. “Universities should confront offensive by rebuttal, John Milton, John Stuart Mill, and Oliver Wendell Holmes had it right: truth doesn’t need 322 Solomon Moore, “Black Youth Admits He Lied About Hate Crime; Hoax: Lancaster Student Who Claimed Three Skinheads Assaulted Him Confesses He Got Into Fight with Two Black Classmates,” Los Angeles Times, January 27, 2000, p. 3. 323 Saide was a college student who claimed to be a victim of anti-Muslim slurs. He exploited the anti-Muslim sentiments arising from post-September 11, 2001fears of terrorism. One might question whether this hoax should have been prosecuted under the federal anti-hoax terrorism statute. Dawn Turner Trice, “Hate-Crime Hoax a Misguided Way to Make a Point,” Chicago Tribune, November 24, 2003, p. 1. 324 David B. Magleby, David M. O’Brien, Paul C. Light, J.W. Peltason, and Thomas E. Cronin, Government by the People (22nd edition), Pearson Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, 2008. |
