On April 25th, in a vote of 20 to 14, H.R. 1592, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, passed out of the U.S. House of Representatives Judiciary Committee. The legislation now makes its way to the floor of the House for consideration by the full chamber.
"Law enforcement is now one step closer to getting the extra tools they need to combat hate violence," said Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign. "Hate crimes continue to spread fear and violence among entire communities of Americans and currently, law enforcement can use these additional tools and resources to prevent and prosecute them. We look forward to the day when partisan politics are finally put aside and this bill passes through Congress and is sent to the president's desk for signing into law.
"Although there were many attempts to derail this legislation today in committee, our allies in Congress stood strong and secured its passage. We are a long way from declaring victory, but we are as committed as ever to continuing to fight back the last desperate attempts by extremists and make sure this bill is realized as the law of the land."
An identical companion bill was introduced April 12, 2007, in the U.S. Senate by Sens. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., and Gordon Smith, R-Ore.
The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act would strengthen the ability of law enforcement officials to investigate and prosecute hate crimes by:
Protecting All Americans. Under the current federal law, enacted nearly 40 years ago, the government has the authority to help investigate and prosecute bias-motivated attacks based on race, color, national origin and religion and because the victim was attempting to exercise a federally protected right. For example, authorities became involved in a Salt Lake Citycase where James Herrick set fire to a Pakistani restaurant on Sept. 13, 2001. Herrick was sentenced to 51 months' incarceration on Jan. 7, 2002, after pleading guilty to violating 18 U.S.C.
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