Anti-Asian Hate Crimes on the Internet

Federal prosecuters failed to convict Richard Machado, accused of violating civil rights of some UC Irvine students by threatening them with death. Machado admitted sending email messages threatening to "hunt down and kill" several dozen Asian Americans at UC Irvine. A majority of the jurors said later that they believed him to ba a disturbed youngster who did not really intend to harm Asian Americans. That does not change the fact that such threats are a crime, whether communicated on paper or by computer over the Internet. Machado, who flunked out of Irvine before sending his messages, apologized to the recipients, which "earned him points with the jurors." Prosecuters said that merely putting Muchado on trial had deterred similar abuses of cyberspace. There clearly is a line for computer usesr s betweent argumentative, protected speach and an outright threat.

Sources Consulted:
Hate is Hate, in Any Medium Los Angeles Times, Nov 15, 1996 v115 pB8 col 1.
A Threat is a Threat Los Angeles Times, Nov. 25, 1997. v116 pB6 col 1.