Letter: Utah should have a real hate crimes law

(Will Vragovic | Tampa Bay Times | The Associated Press) Blood runs from the lip of a man wearing a shirt with swastikas after he was punched by a protester outside a University of Florida auditorium where white nationalist Richard Spencer was preparing to speak, Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017 in Gainesville, Fla. The Utah Legislature won’t pass a good hate crimes bill. The usual excuse for not passing a real hate crimes law is that a hate crimes designation punishes someone’s state of mind, and how can we fairly do that?

News flash to the legislators: We do it all the time. The difference between a murder charge and a manslaughter charge is the state of mind of the perpetrator. The victim is…