House passes hate-crimes bill, 249-175
Jewish groups are hailing House passage of hate-crimes legislation.
The House passed the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act by a vote of 249-175 on Wednesday. The legislation would permit greater federal involvement in investigating hate crimes and expand the federal definition of such crimes to include those motivated by gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability.
The Anti-Defamation League, Jewish Council for Public Affairs and Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism all lauded the vote. In a statement, ADL national director Abraham Foxman and national chair Glen Lewy said it was an "essential and necessary step forward in the national effort to counter hate crimes."
"Hate crimes tear at the fabric of our society and fragment communities," they said. "It is crucial that mechanisms are in place for law enforcement to respond effectively when they occur, and for federal authorities to provide assistance when appropriate."
Supporters have been pushing the measure for a decade. Majorities in both houses of Congress have approved the bill in previous years, but it has been eliminated in conference committees when attached to larger bills -- under the threat of a possible veto by former President George W. Bush.
With Obama backing the legislation, however, chances for final passage appear stronger.
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Carl Drega
05/01/09 09:23 AM
Notwithstanding the fact that crimes of intimidation and/or violence against the property or person on the basis of the victim’s ethnicity etc are repugnant; if there are hate crimes, are there also love crimes?
A perpetrator of vandalism, whose victim happens to be Jewish or black or gay, (or perhaps black Jewish and gay) who smashed out every window in the victim’s house and/or car; did he perpetrate a “hate” crime or a destructive property crime or both? How do we draw the line as to what constitutes a hate crime? Are there not those who would contend that just by virtue of the perpetrator being a southern white male for example, that his vandalizing the property of a black Jewish homosexual would automatically be considered a hate crime against the race/faith/sexual orientation of the victim? There are blatantly obvious cases where the motivation of the perpetrator is clear. However, there are far more cases where there are no clear indications of bias/hate, but circumstances are such (as in the example above) that the crime will be investigated as a hate crime. Is this not a slippery slope with potentially dangerous unintended consequences? There can and will be cases in which someone will commit a crime like that I mentioned above, who has no animosity towards or hatred of any particular group, but who felt like being destructive. There will be cases in which people are punished not just for a crime they deserve punishment for, but for a crime of “hate” as well. With federal involvement, we cannot underestimate the potential for political opportunism, selective enforcement and other abuses that are the trademarks of federal government “justice”.