Hate Crimes Law

The House passed a bill and sent it to the Senate which is backed by the new Democratic White House.  With a vote of 249-175, the law regarding “hate crimes” where attacks are based on a victim’s gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or mental or physical disability has been expanded.

 

This law has been enacted four decades ago but gives limited federal jurisdiction over hate crimes to only the assaults based on race, color, religion or national origin.  It also comes with a prerequisite that a victim had to be attacked while engaged in a federally protected activity.  The passing of this hate crimes bill lifts that prerequisite.

 

It was House Democratic Leader Steny Hoyer who urged the passage of the Federal Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 saying that these hate crimes terrorizes entire segments of our population and tear at our nation’s social fabric.  When it was sent to President Bush when he was in office, he thought that the existing state and federal laws were enough.  President Obama asked Congress to send it to him again so he could sign it into law in October 2009.

 

Today, conviction of a hate crime also carries a more severe punishment, something that is above and beyond that meted out for the attack.  This bill also includes that the federal government can help the state and local authorities investigate hate crimes.  This facet of the bill is starting a debate in that some people like Representative Lamar Smith think that justice, instead of being equal for all will now depend on the race, gender, sexual orientation, disability of the victim.  This will then allow different penalties to be imposed for the same crime.

 

The passing of the hate crime law was made on the basis of the horrific killings of gay teenager, Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, an African American