US Senate adds gays to hate crime legislation

[Capetan Mihali]

A little counterpoint for Martinus....   

Senate Approves Broadened Hate-Crime Measure
WASHINGTON — The Senate voted Thursday to extend new federal protections to people who are victims of violent crime because of their sex or sexual orientation, bringing the measure close to reality after years of fierce debate.
The 68-to-29 vote sends the legislation to President Obama, who has said he supports it.

The measure, attached to an essential military-spending bill, broadens the definition of federal hate crimes to include those committed because of a victim's gender or gender identity, or sexual orientation. It gives victims the same federal safeguards already afforded to people who are victims of violent crimes because of their race, color, religion or national origin.

"Hate crimes instill fear in those who have no connection to the victim other than a shared characteristic such as race or sexual orientation," Senator Patrick J. Leahy, Democrat of Vermont and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said afterward. "For nearly 150 years, we have responded as a nation to deter and to punish violent denials of civil rights by enacting federal laws to protect the civil rights of all of our citizens."

Mr. Leahy sponsored the hate-crimes amendment to the military bill and called its passage a worthy tribute to the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, who first introduced hate-crimes legislation in the Senate more than a decade ago.

Opponents argued to no avail that the new measure was unnecessary in view of existing laws and might interfere with local law enforcement agencies. Senator Jim DeMint, Republican of South Carolina, said he agreed that hate crimes were terrible. "That's why they are already illegal," Mr. DeMint said, asserting that the new law was a dangerous, even "Orwellian" step toward "thought crime."

Ten Republicans voted for the hate-crimes measure. The only Democrat to oppose it was Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin, who said he could not vote for the current bill "because it does nothing to bring our open-ended and disproportionate military commitment in Afghanistan to an end and/or to ensure that our troops are safely and expeditiously redeployed from Iraq." The Senate action came two weeks after the House approved the measure, 281 to 146, and would give the federal government the authority to prosecute violent, antigay crimes when local authorities failed to.

The measure would also allocate $5 million a year to the Justice Department to assist local communities in investigating hate crimes, and it would allow the agency to assist in investigations and prosecutions if local agencies requested help.

Federal protections for people who are victims of violent crime because of their sexual orientation have been sought for more than a decade, at least since the 1998 murder of Matthew Shepard, a gay Wyoming college student.

[Martinus]

Is this the US equivalent of a proscription list?

[Faeelin]

Eh. While I'm ambivalent about hate crimes, as long as we're going to have them and recognize hate crimes towards inaminate objects, 

[derspiess]

Great, more special rights for teh geyz.

[Jaron]

Great, more special rights for teh geyz.

I'm sorry - special rights?

[Zanza]

I find the US practice to combine unrelated issues into one law dubious.

[MadImmortalMan]

I find the US practice to combine unrelated issues into one law dubious.

Yeah, so do we.

[Faeelin]

Great, more special rights for teh geyz.

Hey, it protects heterosexuals against attacks based on sexual orientation too.

Besides, when the GOP pushes for the repeal of the Church Arson Prevention Act of 1996 I'll agree to support the repeal of this.

[Martinus]

Great, more special rights for teh geyz.

Woohoo I have a special right now if someone kills or brutally mauls me! Yay me! 

[Strix]

Hey, it protects heterosexuals against attacks based on sexual orientation too.

It won't work. When a group of homosexuals try to beat up a heterosexual bodybuilder and get their asses hand to them. He'll still face hate charges because he was discriminating against their abilities to act like bullies. 

[Martinus]

Hey, it protects heterosexuals against attacks based on sexual orientation too.

It won't work. When a group of homosexuals try to beat up a heterosexual bodybuilder and get their asses hand to them. He'll still face hate charges because he was discriminating against their abilities to act like bullies. 
[/quote]

Why do you cultivate the stereotype that a group of homosexuals are wimps who couldn't bring down a single heterosexual?

I can assure you that you would probably get your ass kicked by many a homosexual or a transgender person.

[Admiral Yi]

Hey, it protects heterosexuals against attacks based on sexual orientation too.

He he.  He's right Speesh.

Which begs the question of why there has to be a special list at all.  Why not treat all hate crimes the same?

[Strix]

Why do you cultivate the stereotype that a group of homosexuals are wimps who couldn't bring down a single heterosexual?

I can assure you that you would probably get your ass kicked by many a homosexual or a transgender person.

[Faeelin]

Hey, it protects heterosexuals against attacks based on sexual orientation too.

He he.  He's right Speesh.

Which begs the question of why there has to be a special list at all.  Why not treat all hate crimes the same?

Eh, this was probably an easier way to address the issue. After all, the GOP is not against hate crimes for blacks and religious groups; they just don't see beating up fags as a comparable wrong.

[Martinus]

Hey, it protects heterosexuals against attacks based on sexual orientation too.

He he.  He's right Speesh.

Which begs the question of why there has to be a special list at all.  Why not treat all hate crimes the same?

Well it depends what you define as a "hate crime" then.

I think we had this discussion before, but just to repeat, imo, the rationale behind the heavier penalisation of "hate crimes" (i.e. violent crimes that are inspired by the victim's generic and inherent characteristic) is that such crimes have a similar effect to a terrorist attack - i.e. they spread fear and terror within a certain group of people, such fear/terror being more acute, as the victim was chosen on the basis of an innate and unchangeable trait (as opposed to, say, wearing expensive clothes, and thus looking rich).

In that, they damage social fabric in a way that is much more deep and profound than "ordinary" crimes.

Also, special penalisation of "hate crimes" serves an additional purpose of sending a strong message to a minority (usually one that had been previous reviled) saying that the majority considers that minority "one of us" - which in turn furthers social cohesion and tranquility and prevents the creation of "us vs. them" mentality of that minority.