We live in a time where image is everything, where people are hated because they look and dress differently or have different ways of life, as a result of these things we find hate crimes. A hate crime is the acting of hatred towards someone. Teasing is not a hate crime, but when the teasing goes to far and someone gets hurt then it is a hate crime. Everyday at least one person is teased, beat up, killed, taunted, or tortured for just about any reason, just because they do not fit someone's definition of "normal." One crime that sticks out in my mind is a case about a teen named Brian Deneke.

Brian Deneke was killed on December 12, 1997 for dressing differently or in a style known as "punk." Brian did not deserve to die nor did he want to. He was killed because he was different. On...