The abuse, assault, and bullying of special needs people needs to be treated as a hate crime. The ferocity of the attacks, especially on juveniles, has increased greatly over the past few years. There are currently special enhancements that can be added to sentencing for these crimes, but such enhancements are not mandatory. Attacking someone because they are different is a deplorable act, and is why the hate crime statutes were implemented originally. It is time to use such statutes to defend those that can not defend themselves, and those who want so badly to be accepted that they will trust anyone who uses the word friend.



