POLITICS-US: Momentum Builds for Tougher Hate Crimes Law

• by Marina Litvinsky (washington)
• Tuesday, April 28, 2009
• Inter Press Service

The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which is expected to go to a vote in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, is supported by over 300 national civil rights organisations, faith groups, and law enforcement organisations.

'It is time for us as a nation to say crimes based on gender, race, colour, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability are crimes against all of us, crimes against our communities,' said Rabbi David Saperstein, director of the Religious Action Centre of Reform Judaism.

The Act enhances federal involvement against hate crimes where necessary and authorises the U.S. Justice Department to investigate and prosecute bias-motivated violence against a person based on actual or perceived race, colour, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.

It would also provide local authorities with more resources to combat hate crimes and give the federal government jurisdiction over prosecuting hate crimes in states where the current law is inadequate.

Specifically, the bill would eliminate a serious limitation on federal involvement under existing law: the requirement that a victim of a bias-motivated crime was attacked because he or she was engaged in a specified federally-protected activity, such as serving on a jury or attending public school.

Current law, 18 U.S.C. Sec. 245, authorises federal involvement only in those cases in which the victim was targeted because of race, colour, religion, or national origin. The new Act would also authorise the Department of Justice to investigate and prosecute certain bias-motivated crimes based on the victim's actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or disability. Current federal law does not provide authority for involvement in these four categories of cases at all.

'Violence against people because of who they are, where they worship, or the colour of their skin is the antithesis of what we stand for as a nation,' said Wade Henderson, president of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, which supports the new law.

The bill, which supporters have been pushing for a decade, has previously been attached to other legislation and passed both houses of Congress, but has been eliminated in conference committees.

Hate crimes continue to be a problem in the U.S. According to the most recent FBI data, crimes against Latinos increased for the fourth year in a row in 2007, and those against gays and lesbians increased by nearly six percent. In addition, hate crimes against Jewish people and African Americans, Asians and Pacific Islanders also increased.

'Too many times when heinous crimes are committed against people with disabilities, these offenses either go unreported or unprosecuted as hate crimes, even if the circumstances clearly show the victim was targeted because of a disability,' said Andrew Imparato, president of the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD).

According to the non-profit Southern Poverty Law Centre (SPLC), last year, 926 hate groups were active in the U.S., up more than 4 percent from 888 in 2007.

In addition to the immigration debate, the worsening recession and President Barack Obama's successful campaign to become the nation's first black president are factors that have fueled the proliferation of hate groups. Officials reported that Obama received more threats than any other presidential candidate in memory.

'Many communities of colour have seen a spike in hate crimes and even though there are laws to protect hate crime victims, some do not go far enough,' said Janet Murguia, president of the National Council of La Raza. 'This bill would give the federal government jurisdiction to prosecute hate crimes in states where the current law is inadequate and by passing it, Congress can send a strong message that acts of intolerance are unacceptable.'

Opponents of the bill say that it would infringe on rights of free speech and free association.

However, Caroline Fredrickson, director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Washington Legislative Office, contends that, in fact, the bill stipulates that 'evidence of expression or associations of the defendant may not be introduced as substantive evidence at trial, unless the evidence specifically relates to that offense.'

'The ACLU strongly supports the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act as protecting both civil rights and free speech and association,' Fredrickson said. 'We have found in our experience of fighting for stronger protections for civil rights and free speech and association rights that the two go hand in hand. Vigilant protection of free speech rights historically has opened the doors to effective advocacy for expanded civil rights protections.'

As fears that the Obama administration will curtail the Second Amendment right to own firearms have emerged, people have scrambled to buy guns. According to the FBI, there have been 1.2 million more requests for background checks of potential gun buyers from November 2008, when Obama was elected, to February 2009, than there were in the same four months last year.

This comes amidst a recently leaked domestic intelligence report warning local law enforcement officials to be on guard for right-wing extremist groups seeking new recruits amid the financial crisis. The report also said the return of military veterans facing challenges of reintegrating into their communities 'could lead to the potential emergence of terrorist groups or lone wolf extremists capable of carrying out violent attacks.'

This has drawn criticism from Republican lawmakers, conservatives and veterans groups who said it unfairly targets returning military veterans and gun rights advocates without citing specific threats.

Defending the report, Homeland Security Secretary, Janet Napolitano, told NBC’s Today Show, 'This is an assessment of things just to be wary of, not to infringe on constitutional rights, certainly not to malign our veterans.'

As military experience is often valuable to hate groups, soldiers are often times fertile ground for recruitment. A 2008 FBI report, 'White Supremacist Recruitment of Military Personnel since 9/11,' found that 'military experience is found throughout the white supremacist extremist movement,' and such groups 'have attempted to increase recruitment of current and former U.S. military personnel.'

© Inter Press Service (2009) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service