Share This Page Slashdot Del.icio.us Google Digg Reddit Newsvine Furl Yahoo Facebook

Washington, D.C. , May 3, 2007 - Congressman J. Randy Forbes (VA-04) voted today against H.R. 1592, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007. This legislation would create select categories of crime victims who are targeted based on their perceived or actual race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or disability, but does not include certain groups such as the elderly or the men and women of the Armed Forces.

“Every violent crime is a tragedy and we must do everything we can to ensure public safety in our communities,” said Forbes. “However, hate crime laws improperly focus on personal beliefs, rather than actual conduct. Our nation’s laws provide equal protection. If punishments for crimes are too lenient, we need to strengthen our criminal penalties – not just for specific groups.”

Passed in the House today, this legislation:

- Raises the possibility that religious leaders or members of religious groups could be prosecuted criminally based on their speech or other protected activities;

- Creates unequal treatment of victims by treating crimes against protected groups more seriously than non-protected groups;

- Encroaches on jurisdiction traditionally reserved to the States; and,

- Raises significant constitutional concerns by creating “unequal justice” for certain groups. The Fourteenth Amendment prohibits the states from denying equal protection of the law, due process or the privileges and immunities of U.S. citizenship.

Hate crime legislation requires law enforcement officials to ascertain the specific thoughts and motivations that a perpetrator may have had while committing a violent crime, in order to stiffen the penalty for the underlying offense. For more information on this legislation, visit: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d110:hr1592:.

# # #