Cite as: 508 U. S. 476 (1993)
Opinion of the Court
Chief Justice Rehnquist delivered the opinion of the Court.
Respondent Todd Mitchell's sentence for aggravated battery was enhanced because he intentionally selected his victim on account of the victim's race. The question presented in this case is whether this penalty enhancement is prohibited by the First and Fourteenth Amendments. We hold that it is not.
On the evening of October 7, 1989, a group of young black men and boys, including Mitchell, gathered at an apartment
Under Law, Inc., by Frederick J. Sperling and Roslyn C. Lieb; for the Criminal Justice Legal Foundation by Kent S. Scheidegger; for the Crown Heights Coalition et al. by Samuel Rabinove, Richard T. Foltin, Kenneth S. Stern, Elaine R. Jones, and Eric Schnapper; for the Jewish Advocacy Center by Barrett W. Freedlander; for the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area by Robert E. Borton; for the National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium et al. by Angelo N. Ancheta; for the National Conference of State Legislatures et al. by Richard Ruda and Michael J. Wahoske; and for Congressman Charles E. Schumer et al. by Steven T. Catlett and Richard A. Cordray.
Briefs of amici curiae urging affirmance were filed for the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio by Daniel T. Kobil and Benson A. Wolman; for California Attorneys for Criminal Justice by Robert R. Riggs, John T. Philipsborn, and Dennis P. Riordan; for the Center for Individual Rights by Gary B. Born and Michael P. McDonald; for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers et al. by Harry R. Reinhart, John Pyle, Sean O'Brien, and William I. Aronwald; for the Ohio Public Defender by James Kura, Robert L. Lane, James R. Neuhard, Allison Connelly, Theodore A. Gottfried, Henry Martin, and James E. Duggan; for the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council by Jeffrey J. Kassel; for the Reason Foundation by Robert E. Sutton; for the Wisconsin Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers by Ira Mickenberg; and for Larry Alexander et al. by Martin H. Redish.
Briefs of amici curiae were filed for the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law by Paul Brest, Alan Cope Johnston, Herbert M. Wach-tell, William H. Brown III, and Norman Redlich; and for the Wisconsin Inter-Racial and Inter-Faith Coalition for Freedom of Thought by Joan Kessler.
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