Hate crime laws violate the 1st amendment.

I hope this is finally the end to a sad, sad episode. Ms. Brown is unfortuantely a victim of the notoriety surrounding this case. The charges of a hate crime are absolutely ridiculous. This should be a misdemeanor at worst. By all accounts, Ms. Brown is a conscientious young lady who was caught up in the heat of the moment. She is a hard-working college student who also works part-time in an affort to better the lives of herself and her family. I hate to see a good-hearted young person have their entire future destrpoyed over such a minor incident. I pray that Ms. Brown receives a fair and impartial sentence which reflects the petty nature of the crime.

The Defendant should get 5 years or more because this was a HATE CRIME. If Chrissy prefers to live her life as a female then she should with people like Teonna Brown and other attacking them.

My question to everyone who claims hate crime is should i be comfortable with a man going into the ladies room if my wife, mother, or daughter would be using the same room? so any man could just put on a wig and lipstick and go into the ladies room and be protected...... where is the line drawn. so what this guy wants to be a girl he still has to use a mens room if he is a man.

lets say he was some cross dressing pervert and he "bothered" a female while he was in the womens room. would all these supports be saying "why didn't somebody do something?" it is funny that nobody mentioned he was using the ladies room and this is what sparked the whole event. i don't think he deserved the beating to that extent but can you blame to young females being upset that a man is in the ladies room?

If a member of the opposite gender happens to be using the bathroom meant for your gender, the answer is certainly not to physically assault the person. Notify management if you so desire, but it is against the law to assault someone. While commenters keep harping about a man being in the lady's room, we're talking about a transgendered person who lives their life as a female. You don't have to like her decision to live as such, but you have to respect her rights; she has every right to use the women's room.

The victim of the attack did not "bother" anyone. Again, whether you like it or not, the victim had the right to use the female bathroom. So she went to the restroom in a public place. Then she got physically attacked. It seems like a lot of people could use some schooling on human rights, especially in regards to the transgendered.

The suspect deserves the sentence that she received. With malice, she beat a transgendered person simply for using the women's room. Beating a transgendered person for using the "wrong" bathroom is certainly a hate crime. It's no different than if a white person had attacked a black person for using a "whites only" toilet during the '50s. Hopefully the suspect learned a lesson from the incident and becomes a better person. She'll have plenty of time to think about it.

this is no way comparable to race relations in the fifties. the man dresses as a woman. he has not been sexually altered. still has male genitalia. if you are a man you use the mens room. i agree he didn't deserve a beating but what do you think management would have done? absolutely nothing. apathy is never a policy when civil rights and privacy are at stake. every woman deserves to have their privacy in the womens room that is exactly why it is designated for women. i can guarantee you if a man goes in the womens room and my daughter, wife , or mother is in there it will be a problem. the fact is a man went into the womens room. do transgenders' or transdressers' rights superceed the rights of others because they have a personal issue with the way they were born? i am trying to understand why he doesn't have any responsibility in this incident. i wonder how many women feel comfortable with men in the ladies room.

I watched the attack on the internet --- the assault went on long after the parties had left the women's bathroom. Ms. Brown is a violent person, does she have an excuse of drugs or other intoxicants to explain her over the top behavior? I saw her also after leaving the victim on the ground - return to hit them again. I am afraid that Ms. Brown's character is very much in question with regard to HER behavior beyond someone transgendered.

To "LeRoy" You are a sick idividual and need serious help. "Petty nature of the crime"???? "Good hearted young person"???? These two gangsta wannbe thug ANIMALS were attempting to beat someone to death. And to "saltapeppaketchup" You are not much better off. You need an education in gender identity disorder. This case is NOT about a man putting on a wig and going into the ladies room to "bother" women. I feel so sorry for society that there are MANY people in this day and age who still think on this primative level. This kind of thinking is no different than those who felt blacks were less than equal 50 years ago.

Homophobes, transphobes, etc, and anyone who is thinking Miss Polis deserves less than equal treatment in our society, watch out, you are criminals, and you'll also be charged one day. Play with fire, and you get burned.

@leroy..you must be on crack. A fine upstanding citizen doesn't beat the crap out of someone. A minor incident? Come out of the ghetto if this type of behavior is minor. I guess if the victim would have been killed it would just be a minor issue? And what does going to college have to do with her behavior and thug attitude? Ted Bundy was a college graduate...was that a loss to society? She has a prior assault record at the same McDonalds...coincidence that this upstanding citizen was arrested previously? She is worthless and her plea deal isn't enough...let's go biblical on her and we can make her punishment a public beat down..now that would be justice for a worthless piece of crap to society that I can guarantee will never amount to anything...but hey, she will be able to matriculate in jail on the tax payer's dime and maybe she will graduate from college

Yeah Leroy, the video shows what a "good hearted girl" this thug is. So maybe going into the women's room may not be kosher to some people, but is a violent attack warranted or deserved? A symptom of a larger urban problem--youth are not held accountable for their actions so the use violence or whatever they choose to make their point. And thank you to the videographer--what a "good hearted girl" you are too! You helped convict your delinquent friend and hopefully you'll be next. For the woman who stepped in and tried to help only to be assaulted by one of these "good hearted girls"-- we need more people like you. Thanks for taking one for the team--the responsible, accountable team--and may you be an example to others to help their fellow man...or woman. As for a "fair and impartial sentence"--lock her up until she learns to peacefully coexist with her fellow human beings. And from the looks of her, that will be a long, long time.

"I hate to see a good-hearted young person have their entire future destroyed". Yeah, Leroy. Right. Watch the video and tell us all about the "good hearted young person". What is she, your sister? From what I hear, this is not the first time she's been charged with showing her good heart by violently attacking others.

If she was a good-hearted young person and a hard-working college student she SHOULD have had enough sense and common decency not to harm another HUMAN being.

I am appalled that there was a plea bargain in this case, in which the prosecution is only seeking five years incarceration. For all we know, the judge could let this violent criminal walk. Exactly what about the evidence was not going to allow the prosecution to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt? What standards are we setting, what deterrent value does this sentencing have, if after so unjustified and so vicious an attack, the assailant is given a sweetheart plea bargain and a wristslap sentence? Have you seen the video of what the convicted criminal did to the victim? I'd like to hear it explained how the prosecution was not going to be able to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, that this plea bargain was entered into.

Now federal hate crime charges should be brought against that thug and they should lock that bitch up and throw away the key. Do the crime. Do the time.

It should not be ignored that somebody above commented to the effect that the perpetrators were in the restroom at the time Chrissy entered it. That is untrue. As per the court document produced in this post, the perpetrators were seated at a table, with no immediate need to use a restroom, when Chrissy entered the bathroom. They complained to the management that she was there and then started beating her. Obviously, at the time they were engaged with beating her they also had no need of using the restroom faciility.

Wow Leroy, you have your head buried WAY up your backside. Brown and that 14 year old pal of hers are both pieces of garbage. Brown has been in trouble before. She ATTACKED A MOTHER IN FRONT OF HER KID. This McDonalds incident just finally landed her in the clink (where she belongs). Leroy, stop embarrassing yourself and research before you defend human trash like Brown. I doubt prison will reform her. She is a ghetto-banger-wannabe through and through and I doubt she will ever contribute positively to society. I hope she becomes your neighbor so she can go "ghetto-banger" on you. Sweet justice given your defense of her.

Brown got off easy with 5 years. Should have been twice that for attempted murder.