Hate crimes

Calls For Workplace Anti-Discrimination Law

October 29, 2009 -- Washington, DC -- Today, Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Executive Vice President Mary Kay Henry praised President Obama for his signing into law the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, and called for greater protections for LGBT workers.

"There's a motto we have in the labor movement: 'An Injury to One is An Injury to All,'" said Henry. "For Congress to pass, and the President to sign into law, the first explicit protections on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in the nation's history, is an incredibly important first step in ending the decades of violence and discrimination suffered by the LGBT community.    » read more »

October 28, 2009 -- Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) released the following statement today after President Obama signed into law the Department of Defense Authorization bill, legislation that included the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Amendment. Dodd was an original cosponsor of the underlying legislation, the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009.

“Hate crimes destroy families, damage communities, and offend our core American values,” said Dodd. “The shared values that define us as Americans are stronger than our differences. This legislation makes it clear that in a country where so much unites us, there is simply no place for hatred and discrimination, and I applaud the President for signing this important measure into law today.”    » read more »

Congress recently reached agreement on landmark legislation that brings our nation closer to living up to its ideals.

October 16, 2009 -- "Senate and House negotiators included the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010. The act, which I helped shape as the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, will soon become law.

The hate crimes language included in the act has passed both houses of Congress in the past. Existing law gives federal officials jurisdiction over crimes of violence which are committed because of a person's race, color, religion, and national origin. The new language adds gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability and membership in the military.    » read more »

The Hate Crimes Prevention Act will help protect Americans, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, ethnicity, disability, religion or national origin, in the event of violent hate attacks

October 8, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), a conferee on H. R. 2647, the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2010, cheered the passage of the Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which was included in the Defense bill, while registering his strong reservations on the military commissions provision also included.    » read more »

October 8, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, DC – The US House of Representatives today voted in favor of legislation containing the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which extends the definition of violent hate crimes to include gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability.

The original bill, H.R. 1913, passed the House on April 29th of this year, mostly along partisan lines. The Senate attached its version of the Hate Crimes Bill to the Defense Authorization Act of 2010 (H.R. 2467), and after the bill passed the Senate, the language was maintained by the House/Senate Conference Committee. Today, the Defense Authorization Act conference report passed on a vote that broke largely on partisan lines, 281 to 146.    » read more »

DeGette Applauds House for Extending Hate Crimes Protections

8 October 2009 -- WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO) today joined her colleagues in passing the National Defense Authorization Act of 2009, which includes the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, on a vote of 281 to 146.    » read more »

February 24, 2009 -- WASHINGTON - Gary Moss and Devan Klausegger of Medford, Ore., pleaded guilty today to conspiring to interfere with civil rights, announced Acting Assistant Attorney General Loretta King for the Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorney Karin J. Immergut for the District of Oregon.    » read more »

May 11, 2008 -- Connecticut Governor M. Jodi Rell has signed into law Senate Bill 604, An Act Concerning Hate Crimes, which strengthens state law by making it a crime to display a noose as a way of harassing or threatening someone.

“Connecticut simply will not tolerate bigotry or racism,” Governor Rell said. “Let this bill send that message loud and clear. Using a noose – a symbol of the racially motivated lynchings during the late 19th and first half of the 20th century – to intimidate anyone because of their race or any other characteristic is a repugnant and cowardly act. No one should be subject to that kind of treatment.    » read more »

(As Prepared for Delivery)

December 14, 2007 -- Mr. President, I rise to express my deep disappointment that the Congress is taking up the Conference Report on the Defense bill without the hate crimes provision. I commend Chairman Levin for his strong leadership in our efforts to have it included as part of this measure. Despite his efforts, and the strong support of Majority Leader Harry Reid, it’s an extraordinary missed opportunity that we are not able to send the hate crimes bill to the President before the end of the year.    » read more »

December 6, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) today released the following statement after House and Senate Conferees failed to include the Matthew Shepard Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act. Obama is an original cosponsor of the legislation, which would strengthen the federal government's ability to assist local authorities in the investigation and prosecution of crimes motivated by hate and which would provide additional funds to states to develop hate crime prevention programs.    » read more »

November 30, 2007 -- AUGUSTA – Maine Governor John E. Baldacci and Joseph Perry, President of the Bangor Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), today issued a joint statement regarding the recent threat against NAACP members. The threat from a single individual in the Bangor area has resulted in the cancelation of the community’s Kwanzaa celebration.

The joint statement follows.

“There is no place in Maine for this kind of hatred. We will not stand aside and allow intolerance to infiltrate our communities.    » read more »

November 19, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, DC— Today, Senator Edward M. Kennedy released the following statement in response to the 2006 hate crimes statistics released by the Federal Bureau of Investigations.    » read more »

Reported hate crimes at lowest level in eight years, below annual average

November 19, 2007 -- TALLAHASSEE, FL – Reported hate crimes in Florida fell last year to their lowest level since 1998, Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum announced today. McCollum released the Florida Hate Crimes Report covering the 2006 calendar year, noting that a total of 259 hate crimes were reported by local law enforcement agencies that year.    » read more »

October 1, 2007 -- Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean today applauded the passage of the federal Hate Crimes bill in the U.S. Senate. The bill would provide equal protections for every American by extending the definition of hate crimes under federal law to include violence against a person because of his or her sexual orientation or gender identity, and provide local law enforcement agencies the resources to combat hate crimes. Dean issued the following statement:    » read more »

09/28/2007 -- SANTA FE, NM-- New Mexico Governor and Democratic Presidential candidate Bill Richardson today released a statement in support of the U.S. Senate's passage of a federal hate crimes bill that protects Americans from crimes committed on the basis of sexual orientation, disability, or gender identity:    » read more »