People v. Nitz

The defendant, Douglas E. Nitz, who is white, appeals from his conviction on two counts of the offense of hate crime (720 ILCS 5/12— 7.1 (West 1994)), based on his racially motivated harassment of his neighbor, Rochelle Gaines, who is African-American. On appeal, Nitz raises several constitutional challenges to the Illinois hate crime statute. For the reasons that follow, we affirm.

FACTS

Nitz was charged with three counts of hate crime (720 ILCS 5/12 — 7.1 (West 1994)) and one count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor (720 ILCS 130/2a (West 1994)). The hate crime charges were based…