The Speakers Lobby
  • June 15, 2009 | 5:35 PM ET

    Senate Takes Another Crack at Hate Crimes

    In the wake of the violent shooting by an anti-semitic man at the U.S. Holocaust museum, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-NV, joined by the heads of various leading civil rights groups, promised to bring hate crimes legislation up for a vote before the August recess.

    A long time cause of the ailing Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-MA, who has just begun another round of chemo treatment for brain cancer and could not attend today's event, Reid predicted that this year, with Democrats close to a filibuster-proof majority, the legislation would pass.

    The Matthew Shepard Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, named for a gay man killed for his sexual orientation, would allow the Justice Department to assist in the prosecution of hate crimes committed against minorities that result in death or serious injury.

    Opponents have, in the past, successfully killed the legislation saying it creates a separate class of crimes in the U.S. that is not needed.  Current law, their argument goes, protects all citizens equally.

    Human Rights Watch's Joe Solmonese said, "Hate crimes will simply not go away if they are ignored."

    Some conservative groups, like the Traditional Values Coalition and American Family Association have warned that the bill will muzzle religious leaders from discussing parts of the Bible that deal with homosexuality and that the bill would create a special protection for pedophiles and those who commit similar crimes.  The nonpartisan Factcheck.org analyzed the bill and found no such possibility.

    "There's nothing in the bill that says pastors must zip their lips rather than denounce homosexuality, nor does it cover pedophiles, voyeurs, exhibitionists and dozens of other behaviors," a state says.

    The bill expands the federal hate crimes statute to crimes "in which the defendant intentionally selects a victim, or in the case of a property crime, the property that is the object of the crime, because of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender, disability, or sexual orientation of any person."

    A similar hate crimes bill passed the House on April 29, 249-175.

    Trish Turner
    Senior Capitol Hill Producer

    Tags
    Congress

RSS Subscribe to Comments

BeautifulMonster

Don't stop posting such articles. I love to read articles like that. BTW add more pics :)

January 22, 2010 at 3:29 pm

Augustine A. Jermacans

What the problem about the hate crimes is that fact that the home life has disappered.Years ago we where told and shown to respect our elders and equals.Know matter if they were black or as we would call them colored,this would include all denominations.We were taught that we were all equals in the site of GOD.

June 25, 2009 at 3:12 pm

Valerie Emmons

Ok, I think this is an absurd bill...if someone is goin gto kill someone...then they are going to kill them or commit a crime against them and no bill is going to stop that. Crime is crime no matter how you spell it. All this will do is give them a few more years on their sentence....and they realy care about that when planing to commit a crime against someone. Secondly, why are their no provisions in this bill about what if the person provokes the other into the crime.

June 18, 2009 at 12:10 am

frank

well look at it this way.. revenge is the motive here. they might find a way to kill a condemned person twice heh? plus the hate crime addition to a charge can be used as a bargaining chip by both sides.

June 16, 2009 at 10:46 pm

shane voorhees

hate crimes? like the black panthers blocking the polling place in philly!that all charges were droped! or the the slander of children when they cant find anything wrong with the mother!like Sara Palins family of whom I vary much respct!

June 16, 2009 at 8:15 pm

usmc - NoBAMA

I think that congress should pass a bill making it illegal to use the term "Minority." It's America and it's 2009. We need to get with the program. This country is getting waaay too tired and fed up with the race card being pulled on everything. OJ murdered 2 innocent people and he got off the hook because the cop was racist... OJ is a racist for killing white people... Was this a hate crime? What if it was the other way around?

June 16, 2009 at 6:14 pm

jim

I'd like to read the bill for myself, is it really a hate crime bill or one that will truley restrict free speech. I don't believe to much of what the Govt says, and their interpertation of a hate crime.

June 16, 2009 at 4:59 pm

robert

dont we have enough laws, just enforce them.

June 16, 2009 at 4:21 pm

Elicia Kliewer

The USA can not have civil liberty without religous liberty. The hate crimes bill takes a huge bite into our countries religous liberty. Grave injustice if this bill passes!!!

June 16, 2009 at 12:45 pm

Peter

Would the editors at FOXNews care to fact-check their reporter? Matthew Shephard, the gay man named in the "Matthew Shepard Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Hate Crimes Prevention Act" was killed over DRUGS not his SEXUAL ORIENTATION. This has been verified over and over again in a court of law. We need the truth, not mere created and oft-repeated perceptions, if we are to resolve the political questions of our time. Please correct this article.

June 16, 2009 at 9:47 am

Start a new Discussion

Name
* required

Email
* required
* not displayed

Comment

Characters used : 0/500
Notify me of follow-up comments via email Start Discussion

about this blog

  • FOX News covers Congress from all angles. Get constant updates from our on-the-field producers.

most popular posts

browse posts