Beard-Cutting Case Tests Limits of Hate Crime Law : NPR

I am very curious as to how this case will play out,,,is humiliation within the confines of religion a hate crime?? Is this a possible "misuse" of the Shepard-Byrd Hate Crimes Act?? In other words are they overstepping the nature of the law as it was originally laid out??

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"Having a beard is a sign of adulthood, it's a sign of maturity and it's a sign of marital status. So it's a sign of a man being a man. So, to cut the beard is a kind of humiliation,"

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"This is a disciplinarian that was just trying to impose shame upon the perceived wayward members. You can't do that. You have to have shame come from within," Lange says. "But, that's a cultural mistake. It's not a crime, and least of all, not a hate crime."

Beard-Cutting Case Tests Limits of Hate Crime Law : NPR