Congress close to
classifying anti-gay acts
as hate crimes
By DEBORAH BARFIELD
BERRY, Home News Tribune Online, May 6, 2007
WASHINGTON, May 5 --
Legislation to expand the federal hate crimes law to include sexual orientation
is rapidly moving through Congress, bringing Rep. John Conyers closer to
notching a key victory in his civil rights agenda.
"This legislation is long overdue," said Conyers, the Democrat from Michigan who
has spent 10 years fighting for the expansion. "The crimes go on.
The need for this kind of law is as clear or clearer than ever before."
The House passed the measure 237-180 on Thursday. A similar bipartisan
measure was introduced in the Senate last month.
The proposal pushed by Conyers, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, would
set aside $5 million in grants in 2008 and another $5 million in 2009 to help
local officials investigate and prosecute hate crimes. It also would
expand hate crimes to include disability and gender.
Hilary Shelton of the NAACP calls hate crimes a "form of domestic terrorism" and
praised Thursday's House vote approving Conyers' proposal.
Critics of the legislation, including the White House and some Republicans and
religious leaders, counter that expanding the federal law isn't necessary,
because many states already have hate crime laws.
They also say hate crime victims shouldn't be treated differently than victims
of other crimes. "We all deserve equal protection," said Rep. Louie
Gohmert, R-Texas.
Bishop Harry Jackson, head of the High Impact Leadership Coalition, a group of
ministers campaigning against the bill, is concerned the law would be a
"muzzle."
"A whole lot of the Christian preachers would back away from preaching what the
Bible says about homosexuality and a litany of other sins," Jackson said.
For Neal Anthony of McNinnville, Tenn., the federal measure would send a strong
message to people like the suspects who recently spray-painted anti-gay slurs on
his home.
Anthony said he doesn't want special rights, just the same protections against
hate crimes that other victims have.
"I just want to be like everybody else," he said.
In a recent interview with Gannett News Service, Conyers talked about the new
hate crimes legislation and what he calls his "personal odyssey" to see it
turned into law.
Question: You introduced a hate crimes bill more than a decade ago.
Why has it taken so long to move it through Congress?
Answer: We passed it a couple of times, but it would always get
stripped out (before final passage). ... The problems we had were mostly with
the Senate.
Q: Why do you think it stands a good chance of passing now?
A: (Support from) more and more organizations, groups, churches, civil
rights groups. ... We have more Republicans on this than ever before. ... Law
enforcement organizations are totally in support of this.
Q: What impact, if any, will this federal measure have on state hate
crimes laws.
A: We are a backup to state action. ... What we do is assist the state
and local governments in terms of how they move forward in this field.
Q: What about critics who say victims of hate crimes shouldn't be treated
any differently than other crime victims?
A: We want to assure everybody that we're not giving these victims a
preferred status ... (but) that we recognize these crimes as different than
ordinary crimes.
Q: Some critics say the measure isn't necessary because many states
already have hate crimes laws.
A: The only way we're going to come to some national resolution is if
there's one federal law for everybody. If we had hate crime laws
everywhere, it would be great. But we don't ... so there's no way that we
can guarantee this as a national right and give it the status that it deserves
that protects every American.
Hate-crime data on
Web
GANNETT NEWS SERVICE,
Home News Tribune Online, May 6, 2007
For the number of hate crimes that
local law enforcement agencies reported to the Justice Department in 2005 (the
most recent year available), go to
www.fbi.gov. Under "What We Investigate," click on "Civil Rights."
On the next page, under "Hate Crime," click on "details." Look for "Hate
Crime Statistics" at the bottom.
For statistics from 2003 (the most recent year available) on complaints filed by
people who say they were victims of a hate crime, go to
www.ojp.usdoj.gov.
Type "hate crime" into search field. Look for "Hate Crime Reported by
Victims and Police."
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