Op-Ed: Taking on Hate Crimes Americans have seen first hand in recent years how hate crimes can tear apart local communities and cause fear and anxiety among vulnerable groups nationwide—the murder of Matthew Shepard, the rape and murder of Brandon Teena, and the harassment of the Jena 6 being only a few examples. Congress now has the opportunity to make a long-needed update to federal hate crime law by keeping language that would extend protection for gender, sexual orientation, and disability in the Department of Defense Authorization Bill.
Thousands Rally on Department of Justice On November 16, thousands of people gathered in the nation's capital to, in the words of event speaker Rev. Al Sharpton, "tear down the walls of injustice" around the criminal justice system.
