Civil Rights Groups Celebrate Senate Introduction of Hate Crimes Bill
Feature Story by Tyler Lewis - 4/12/2007
Senators Edward Kennedy, D. Mass., and Gordon Smith, R. Ore., announced the introduction of a comprehensive hate crimes bill at an April 12 press conference in the Capitol.
"A principal responsibility of government is to protect and defend its citizens and to come to the aid of the mistreated. As a nation founded on the ideals of tolerance and justice, we simply cannot accept violence that is motivated by bias and hate," said Sen. Smith. "Current law is limited. Our proposal would change that, and change it permanently."
The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crime Prevention Act (LLEHCPA) will expand coverage to include gender, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and individuals with disabilities. It also provide grants to state and local communities to combat violent crimes committed by juveniles, train law enforcement officers, or to assist in state and local investigations and prosecutions of bias motivated crimes.
A diverse group of national civil rights groups spoke in support of the measure, which Senators Kennedy and Smith renamed the bill "The Matthew Shepard Act," in honor of hate crime victim Matthew Shepard, who died more than eight years ago in Laramie, Wyoming.
The ACLU noted that it was the first hate crimes bill for which they had ever offered full support. The Interfaith Alliance said that many different faiths "speak with dramatic unanimity in vehemently condemning hate" and that passage of the bill will "send a clear message about America's values."
The National Partnership for Women and Families and the National Organization for Women lauded the bill's inclusion of gender.
"Girls' and women's lives are restricted and often ruined by the fear of, as well as the reality of, hate crimes, whether they are based on our real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity, because we have a disability, or just because we are women," said NOW President Kim Gandy.
Recent data shows that hate violence continues to be a problem in the U.S. FBI statistics for 2005 showed a slight decline in hate crimes (about 7,163, down from 7,649 in 2004.), but major cities like New York City, Phoenix and states like Alabama and Mississippi did not report.
Civil rights groups called the 2005 statistics "incomplete" and "a setback to the progress the Bureau has made in the [hate crimes] program."
"The violent deaths of gay men and women like Michael Sandy, Rashawn Brazell, Andrew Anthos, Sakia Gunn, and Sean Donté Williams speaks to the urgent need for local law enforcement to have the necessary tools to beat back the worst forms of intolerance. So does vandalism of a Clarksville, Tennessee Islamic Center last Friday. And the rising violence against Latinos like Michael Ritcheson in the wake of divisive debate around immigration reform," said Wade Henderson, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, in a statement.
"These crimes are acts of domestic terrorism that have an impact far greater than on the individual victim," said Sen. Kennedy. "For far too long, law enforcement has been forced to investigate these crimes with one hand tied behind its back. That's wrong and Congress must set it right."
The LLEHCPA has been approved separately in the House and the Senate by bipartisan majorities on a number of occasions since 2000, but final passage has been blocked by the House Republican leadership.
"Congress should treat the LLECHPA like the vital civil rights legislation it is. We look forward to swift passage of this important legislation in the House and the Senate," said Henderson.
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