Bipartisan Hate Crime Legislation Introduced in House of Representatives
Feature Story by civilrights.org staff - 6/2/2005
A bipartisan group of legislators, led by Rep. John Conyers, D. Mich., introduced hate crimes legislation adding protections for victims of gender, sexual orientation, and disability bias crimes last week.Additional co-sponsors of the bill, known as the "Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2005," included Reps. Barney Frank, D. Mass., Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R.Fla., Tammy Baldwin, D. Wisc., and Christopher Shays, R. Conn.
The ACLU, which for years had expressed concern that federal hate crime bills lacked free speech protections, is endorsing the Conyers bill, because it includes an explicit ban on the use of speech or association to prove criminal activity, unless it specifically relates to the crime.
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) praised the bill's explicit coverage of the transgender community.
"We're proud that for the first time legislation will be introduced that explicitly covers the entire gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community and the community will have an unambiguous shot at equal protection under hate crimes law, " said HRC President Joe Solmonese.
A report compiled by the FBI documents 7,489 hate crime incidents in 2003. Law enforcement agencies identified 9,100 hate crimes victims.
Many believe that these crimes are severely under-reported.
"These are crimes that shock and shame our national conscience and they should be subject to comprehensive federal law enforcement assistance and prosecution," Rep. Conyers stated at a press conference last Thursday announcing the introduction of the bill.
"We strongly believe that Congress must do everything possible to empower the federal government to assist in local hate crimes prosecutions and, where appropriate, expand existing federal authority to permit a wider range of investigations and prosecutions," said Nancy Zirkin, Deputy Director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), the nation's oldest, largest, and most diverse civil and human rights coalition.
"LCCR believes that the Hate Crimes Act of 2005 is a constructive response to a problem that continues to plague our country," Zirkin added.
