Senate Votes to Add Sexual Orientation to Hate Crime Protections

Senate Votes to Add Sexual Orientation to Hate Crime Protections
By CARL HULSE
Copyright by The New York Times
Published: July 17, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/18/us/politics/18hate.html?th&emc=th


WASHINGTON — The Senate has agreed to expand the definition of hate crimes to those committed because of a victim’s sexual orientation and gender identity as part of a Pentagon policy measure that is becoming a magnet for tough social issues.

Senators added the anti-bias provisions to the bill Thursday night after voting 63 to 28 to shut off debate on the proposal by Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont and chairman of the Judiciary Committee. The measure would also allow the federal government to intervene in cases where the local authorities lacked the resources for such criminal investigations.

“We need a strong federal law to serve as a backstop to prevent hate-motivated violence in America,” Mr. Leahy said.

Republicans countered that the hate crimes expansion should not be part of a Pentagon measure and argued that it would usurp the rights of states to pursue such crimes since most have their own versions of the law.

“Federal courts were not created to adjudicate local crimes, no matter how heinous they may be,” said Senator Jon Kyl, Republican of Arizona.

Mr. Kyl noted that the killers of Matthew Shepard, the gay Wyoming college student for whom the measure was named, are serving life sentences for murder.

But backers of the provisions said that action was overdue on expanding the definition of those affected by legislation that originally was crafted to protect victims of crimes committed on the basis of race, color, religion or national origin.

In response to conservative criticism that the legislation could lead to charges against those who speak out against gay rights, Mr. Leahy added a provision banning prosecution for exercising the rights of free speech.

Congress has been considering such hate crime legislation for years, but the measure has stalled for various reasons. Some House members have recently indicated reluctance to consider the current version, but Congressional leaders believe they can find a way to enact it.

The Senate is scheduled to consider more hate crime provisions on Monday. Among them is a Republican plan to impose the death penalty for certain acts.

Once they dispose of the hate crime proposals, the Senate is set to consider as part of the Pentagon bill a Republican plan to allow those permitted to carry concealed weapons in one state to take the firearm into other states without violating any laws. It is the latest gun-rights issue to surface in Congress.

“A state’s border should not be a limit on this fundamental right,” said Senator John Thune, Republican of South Dakota, who is the author of the proposal.