17-year-old accused of setting agender teen’s skirt on fire faces 7-year sentence

Barry Krisberg quoted in The Daily Californian, October 20, 2014

“Hate crimes are extraordinarily difficult to prove,” said Barry Krisberg. … “A jury trial in this case would have been very difficult. What we see here was a plea margin that was reached, which will bring the crime down to a different level. It was somewhat ambiguous whether or not it was truly motivated by hatred … or if it was merely a prank.”