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  • Steve Russell Hates the Hate Crime Bill
    Kasey commented on the article | about 2 years ago
    Steve Russell Hates the Hate Crime Bill

    Actually, Patrick, that's only the case under STATE law.  The federal law - which included sexual orientation under the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 and added gender identity under the Matthew Shepard (etc) Act - applies regardless of whether the state has a similar statute protecting GLBT people.  The entire reason for passing the laws is because many states won't protect people on the basis of their actual or perceived queerness. For that matter, Virginia does not protect against crimes on the basis of sex, but those crimes have been prosecuted by the federal government for more than a decade under the VCCLEA, as well as various incarnations of the Violence Against Women Act.  The purpose of passing federal laws is frequently to fill in gaps the states have not addressed and/or to ensure that even the scary red states give some basic protections to people.


    Think of it like federal nondiscrimination laws.  Not all states cover all of the areas protected by Title VII, but Title VII still applies within those states; it just means that the person brings a claim in federal court instead of in state court.  Many states have laws that go well above and beyond the protections of Title VII and have included GLBT people for decades; when that law is better, claims are brought under state law.


    The law also does NOT apply only to felonies.  It applies to all "crimes of violence" as defined under 18 U.S.C. 16 et.seq., which defines a "crime of violence" as: "a) an offense that has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against the person or property of another, or b) any other offense that is a felony and that, by its nature, involves a substantial risk that physical force against the person or property of another may be used in the course of committing the offense."  A misdemeanor that fits prong (a) would be subject to this law as well.

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