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Mormon Senator Co-sponsors Hate-crimes Bill Gordon Smith: “We simply cannot accept violence that is motivated by bias and hate” Excerpt from a story in The Advocate April 2007 The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act was reintroduced Thursday in the U.S. Senate. Sponsored by Democratic senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts and Republican senator Gordon Smith of Oregon, the bill was renamed the Matthew Shepard Bill in tribute to the hate-crime victim and his mother, Judy Shepard, who joined the senators in reintroducing the measure. Kennedy is a Roman Catolic; Smith is a Mormon. The bill would strengthen the ability of law enforcement officials to investigate and prosecute the more than 9,000 bias-motivated violent crimes reported each year. An identical bill was introduced last month in the U.S. House of Representatives by Democratic representative John Conyers Jr. of Michigan and Republican representative Mark Kirk of Illinois. This is the fifth consecutive session of Congress to consider a hate-crimes bill. The bill adds crimes motivated by the victim's sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, and disability to existing federal law conferring authority on the federal government to investigate and prosecute violent crimes. This authority already exists for crimes committed because of the victim's race, color, religion, or national origin. “A principal responsibility of government is to protect and defend its citizens and to come to the aid of the mistreated,” Smith was quoted as saying in the release. “As a nation founded on the ideals of tolerance and justice, we simply cannot accept violence that is motivated by bias and hate. Current law is limited. Our proposal would change that, and change it permanently.” Similar bills have passed both the House and Senate in recent years but have failed to be signed into law. |
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