Hate Crimes

In an article for The Huffington Post, Paul LeGendre of Human Rights First notes that the expanded hate crimes law "will also permit federal authorities to assist local governments in hate crime investigations and increase their capacity through training programs." LeGendre adds, "This much-needed step to enhance the government's response to hate crime at home will play an important role in enhancing US leadership on combating ate violence globally."

The Conference Report for the Defense Department Appropriations Reauthorization was released yesterday including the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which would classify violent crimes against LGBT victims as hate crimes. The Conference Report is the result of negotiations between the House of Representatives and Senate to reconcile legislation passed by each chamber. The reconciled bill must still garner majority support from each chamber before being sent to the president.

Law Dork's Chris Geidner has the details on the Act:

On page 1483 [of the pdf] (1361 of the bill), the penalties lay out a maximum of life imprisonment for the most severe types of hate-motivated crimes. They are when:

* death results from the offense.

* the offense includes kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill.

The bill provides for no greater penalties.

In an apparent effort to obstruct passage of the Hate Crimes Act earlier this year, Sen. Jeff Sessions amended the bill to allow capital punishment for hate crimes. Many backers of the Hate Crimes Act objected to the amendment, issuing statements like that from the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, which criticized capital punishment in light of "significant doubts about its deterrent effect and clear evidence of disproportionate application against poor people. Moreover, there are serious, well-documented concerns about unequal and racially biased application of the death penalty."