Support the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009
I agree that all violent crimes are crimes of hate. They are all abhorrent. They are all to be prevented.
In addition, crimes motivated by bigotry, racism, and prejudice are so abhorrent that society should rally against them and declare the motivations crimes as well. This distinction illustrates how certain values are not acceptable in our communities. This distinction shows what kind of society we live in and what we aspire to be.
Haters with intent to kill must be stopped on many different levels by any means necessary.
This bill will expand the current federal hate crimes law to include any violence based on a victim’s real or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. The Department of Justice will have the power to go after bias-motivated offenses and give important federal assistance to states, local jurisdictions, and Indian tribes.
No worries, haters. Your First Amendment rights to shout, blog, or write nasty views of the world will not be threatened.
The Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 is important. It declares paramount the values of tolerance, acceptance, and peace. Urge your Senators to vote for a tolerant country and more hopeful tomorrow for everyone who dares to be themselves.
2 Comments
Leave a Reply
Catherine Durkin Robinson
-
she’s crafty
I have to say, I’m uncomfortable with this bill. Certainly, I’m also uncomfortable with the notion of Hate Crime Laws in general, but there’s no need to rehash the general opposition to hate crime laws here.
In particular, though, this is good intention leading to bad legislation. I’m uncertain of the necessity for expansion of federal authority far beyond its current limits. Further, the money that you mentioned is dependent on crimes being “hate crimes”…this may sound cynical, but suddenly there’s an incentive to find a hate crime aspect to any crime.
Again, I think the intentions behind this bill are good, but the bill itself not only doesn’t solve the problem, but further misappropriates scant funds from other programs that could make better use (and more headway) in combating bias-based violence.
I am always troubled when our only solution is to legislate: as I wrote recently, this starts to feel a lot like “The Trees” by Rush. And I recently pulled together a pretty grotesque list of hate crimes, which new legislation would have done nothing to prevent. This is a horrible problem that doesn’t want to go away, and I don’t know what to do!
I think the solution has to include awareness. I’ve just started a discussion group on prejudice, which I think of as a larger topic including hate crimes. And a couple of folks lived in my head until I gave them voices in The Grace of Guilt, and if you’re interested, I’d like to forward you a pdf (it’s actually available for download on my ning discussion group).
But above all, I would love to engage in meaningful discussion about what to do to solve the problem.