ARA South Bend
vows to continue fight for hate crimes legislation
Within the last few years, an elderly black man was dragged to his death by a pickup truck in Texas, a gay man was beaten, tied to a fence and left to die in Wyoming, a 13-year old boy who rode his bike into a white neighborhood was attacked and left brain-damaged and a black man in Virginia was burned and beheaded for passing out at a birthday party. These are just a few of the thousands of crimes motivated by hate that happen every year. In 1996, the last year that FBI statistics are available, 8,759 hate crime incidents were reported. And for some unexplained reason, Congress has failed to pass the Hate Crimes Prevention Act.
ARA South Bend believes that the Hate Crimes Prevention Act needs to be passed next year, and we are working with groups like the Human Rights Campaign and other to get it passed. There are many issues, questions, assumptions and mistruths regarding the HCPA. We will try to explain the issues, answer the questions and address the assumptions and mistruths for you over the next year. Please take the time to read what we have and research it on your own. Make your own decision. And if you agree with us, e-mail me with your name and address, and I will add your name to our petition. Our petition along with a letter explaining our position will be sent to every Indiana member of the House and Senate as well as the President, Governor and Lieutenant Governor.
History of hate crimes legislation:
1968 - Congress passed a hate crimes statute during this time of racial unrest which has since never been amended. This statute made it a federal crime to attack someone because of race, color, religion or national origin. It only applied if the assault was aimed at preventing certain federally protected rights such as voting or attending school.
1998 - Congress failed to pass the Hate Crimes Prevention Act which would have added gender, disability and real or perceived sexual orientation and would also allow federal authorities to intervene in a much broader range of situations. It would remove the requirement regarding a federal ly protected activity for prosecution. Or to look at it another way, it would make living a federally protected activity.
The Hate Crimes Prevention Act (HCPA) is not a homosexual issue; it's not a racial issue; it's not a religious issue. It's a human issue. A lot of opponents of the HCPA fail to realize that EVERY, SINGLE person could become a victim of a hate crime. It doesn't matter what you are - black, white, gay, woman, jewish, whatever - someone somewhere could hate you and act on it for no other reason than the fact that you are black, white, gay, a woman, jewish or whatever.
Some opponents of the HCPA believe that it would regulate and punish beliefs and thoughts. This is incredibly backwards thinking. If you do not like women, that is your right. You have committed no crime. If you take your dislike for women to the next step and rape, attack or kill a women because of your dislike of women, you have just committed a hate crime. If you are against homosexuality, that's not a crime. To beat a gay man into a coma because you dislike gays and he happens to be gay, that is a hate crime.
Other opponents believe that it singles out certain members of the community for special rights. This is incredibly wrong. On the contrary - it would provide equal protection for all. The segments of the law dealing with sexual orientation would protect heterosexuals in the same way that it would protect homosexuals. The parts on gender would protect men and well as women. The HCPA protects everybody.
The American Psychological Association submitted testimony to the House Judiciary Committee on hate crimes. This is some of what they had to say:
Hate crimes are not only an attack on the individual but also an attack on that individual's community. Hate crimes serve to threaten and intimidate entire communities. This fear may result in an increased sense of vulnerability among community members. This heightened sense of fear plays a role in hate crimes reporting. According to one study, only a third of hate crimes were reported to police. Once of the reasons for this lack of reporting may be a perception or concern that police agencies are biased against the group to which the victim belongs, and police authorities will not be responsive to the incident.
Violence is not random, uncontrollable, or inevitable. Many factors, both individual or social, contribute to an individual's propensity to use violence and are within our power to change...Important societal factors that contribute to a unique type of violence are prejudice, intolerance, and discrimination. Negative attitudes towards certain groups are demonstrated in daily acts of interpersonal behavior and in their extreme manifestation can be expressed through hate crimes.
Hate crimes legislation that expands the jurisdiction and resources for appropriate prosecution is essential. The American Psychological Association supports the Hate Crimes Prevention Act.
On 10/14/98, President Clinton issued a statement reacting to the beating death of Matthew Shepard. An excerpt follows:
"Almost one year ago I proposed that Congress enact the Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Our Federal laws already punish some crimes committed against people on the basis of race or religion or national origin, but we should do more. This crucial legislation would strengthen and expand the ability of the Justice Department to prosecute hate crimes by removing needless jurisdictional requirements for existing crimes and by giving Federal prosecutors the power to prosecute hate crimes committed because of the victim's sexual orientation, gender or disability. All Americans deserve protection from hate. There is nothing more important to the future of this country than our standing together against intolerance, prejudice, and violent bigotry."
