Hate-crime = Thought crime?

I am from the USA. In my country we on occasion pass into law things that at the time, (In the heat of the moment) make perfect sense. Adding an extra helping of punitive damage to an already heinous crime is nothing more than legislators hoping it will further deter such crimes. American justice is not always logical.
Hate crimes are not thought crimes. You can hate the hell out of who ever you want. But if you act out your hate you will be punished more severly in this county cuz thats how we roll.

So is your position on hate crime legislation is that it is unjust because it is taking the perps predjudice as the reason for the crime rather than the crime alone?
Hate crime legislation is meant to stigmatize the perp in addition to setting a example to other would be haters that may be comptemplating such crimes. It is not because some one killed Matthew Shepherd because he was a asshole. He may have been. It is because he was singled out from society as not fit to live due to bigotry and thereby brutally murdered. We as a free society can not have others amoung us selecting who lives and who dies simply based on some half baked notions of superiority. Hate crime legislation in my opinion is all about deterance. Its bad enough to kill someone, but worse to do it because they different. If it is unjust and a example of Orwellian thought crimes so be it. I would rather deter a racist from dropping the hammer on me or my loved ones. Your thoughts?

I understand your point. However I agree with the legislators on this particular law. Laws are not only made to mite out justice, they are made to protect us as well. Someones constitutional rights are protected until they are found guilty of crimes. The perps get they're day in court.