CQ TODAY ONLINE NEWS
– LEGAL AFFAIRS
June 15, 2009 – 8:54 p.m.
Hate-Crimes Bill a Priority for This Summer, Reid Says
By Keith Perine, CQ Staff
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid added to his short-term legislative to-do list Monday by saying he was “committed” to a Senate vote on hate crimes legislation before the August recess.
It is not clear how Reid intends to fulfill his pledge. But he appears to be counting on the Democratic Senate majority, at least some GOP support, and the backing of President Obama to help him move the legislation. The measure is a priority for civil rights groups.
“Hate crimes embody a unique type of evil,” Reid said at a press conference where he was joined by civil rights activists.
Hate crimes legislation was first introduced in the wake of the murder in 1998 of Matthew Shepard, a 21-year-old gay Wyoming college student.
FBI statistics show that 7,624 violent hate crimes were committed in 2007 and more than 118,000 have been reported since 1991, according to a House committee report.
Since 2000, bill supporters have attached the measure to the House or Senate version of the annual defense authorization bill, hoping it could be enacted as part of a must-pass measure. But each time, the provision has been stripped in conference.
Kennedy, Conyers Measures
On April 28, Reid introduced legislation (
Under both versions of the measure, federal hate crime law would be expanded to cover offenses based on a victim’s gender, sexual orientation or gender identity, or on a disability.
Violent crimes that were motivated by such attributes in which fire, a gun or a bomb was used would be punishable by a fine and up to 10 years in prison. Life sentences would apply to some offenses, including those in which the victim died. Federal prosecutors would have to show a link to interstate commerce and get permission from a senior Justice Department official before bringing such a case.
Kennedy’s bill includes a findings section that is not in the House-passed measure. Unlike the Senate bill, the House-passed version has statute of limitations language that would set a seven-year time limit for prosecution of offenses in which the victim wasn’t killed.
Obama issued a statement on April 28 urging House passage of that chamber’s bill and calling on the Senate “to work with my administration to finalize this bill and to take swift action.”
Details Still to Be Worked Out
On Monday, Reid was unsure whether he would try to move Kennedy’s bill, or the House-passed measure. He also did not specify whether he would try to engineer a vote on the legislation as a stand-alone bill, or as an amendment to a defense authorization bill or another measure.
But Reid appeared confident of success in the Senate, saying “count the number of Democrats” in response to a question about how the prospects for the bill are different this time around.
Supporters of the bill are pointing to the June 10 shooting at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington to try to build momentum for the legislation.
Opponents of the legislation have said it would unfairly elevate a special category of crime victims above others. Social conservatives have argued that the legislation would make clergy members more reluctant to denounce homosexuality, out of fear that they could somehow be liable for a subsequent crime committed against a homosexual person by someone in their congregation.
Comments
Did you forget to add "political beliefs" to the Hate Crime legislation? Even though any abortion clinic vandalism, interference with patients is ALREADY A FEDERAL CRIME--it is not being enforced locally. That needs to stop.
Well the wacko fundis are in a tizzy, so you know this has to be a good idea.
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