On this date in 2004 the U.S. Justice Department announced a decision by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit that reversed a lower court’s minimal sentencing of Robert May who was found guilty of burning a cross on the lawn of a biracial couple in Gastonia, North Carolina in 1999, with the intention of having the couple move from the neighborhood. In United States v. May, the Court of Appeals unanimously reversed the sentencing of May by the lower court which did not follow sentencing guidelines; the guidelines called for a sentence between 18 and 24 months in prison, but the lower court gave May time served. In its rationale for the paltry sentence, the lower court said May had been provoked into the cross burning and that May had accepted responsibility for his actions despite May’s denial of the facts underlying his guilty plea at his sentencing (he also lied about his ongoing drug use); the Court of Appeals disagreed.

In Hamburg Township, Michigan, on this date in 2007, a Puerto Rican woman and her 12-year-old son came home to find their house had been severely vandalized and money stolen. Racist graffiti which read "Go Nigger" was spray-painted inside their Livingston County home, mattresses were ripped with knives, and curtains, clothing, and other items were spray-painted. The woman, who asked reporters not to use her name for safety reasons, said that the March 4, 2007, incident, was the third time she has been the target of a crime in this community which is over 97% white.