Stop what you are doing! Get a cup of coffee, and Write Your Officials today.
Hearings on H.R. 1592—“The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act” began on Tuesday, April 17th. A vote is expected this week (April 23-27) by the U.S. House on the hate crimes bill. The bill will empower the federal government to prosecute 'hate-crimes' based on a person's "sexual orientation, gender identity, gender and disability."
There is a companion bill in the Senate, S. 1102.
This bill, H.R. 1592, is supported by the ACLU, and by most liberals who thrive on generating victims for the hate-crime industry. Naturally, I’m opposed to hate crime legislation for the following reasons.
(1) Any violent crime is an act of hate!
(2) We have sufficient laws in America to deal with violent crime.
(3) The FBI’s most recent statistics show that hate crimes are on the decline in the U.S.
(4) There is no need for this kind of legislation unless, of course, you are attempting to pander to certain segments of the population.
Setting up special categories of protected victims is the best way to keep the flames of hatred fanned and to further divide this country. Additionally, there is a slippery-slope that liberals always deny. What is called a hate crime today will eventually lead to hate speech legislation and then thought crime legislation. Think about it. Have you even known any liberal who was given an inch and didn’t want to take every last mile???
There has been a great deal of controversy over this particular bill – much of it generated by concerns that the bill might jeopardize freedom of speech and the religious freedoms of Christians in particular. I’ve read a lot of hype generated on both sides of this issue. It’s pretty hard to find a balanced opinion about the real implications of this bill.
Three issues are of great concern to many Christians and conservatives.
(1) This bill will expand coverage of hate crime victims to include gender, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and individuals with disabilities.
(2) Punishment of politically incorrect bias appears to be the ultimate goal of this legislation.
(3) It will also give incentives (grants) to state and local authorities to bring in the Feds.
As a conservative who often rails against the abuses of the left, I’m equally appalled when I read the words of so-called Christians on the right who use defamatory statements against any group of people. For example, Traditional Values Coalition has a form you can fill out and send to your congressional representatives concerning H.R. 1592. But do you really want to send a letter to your congressional representatives from an alert entitled “Homosexual/Drag Queen Hate Crimes Bill On Fast Track”? This is defamatory and abusive!
Most conservative Christians believe that homosexuality is a sin against God. But, call me old fashioned, I’ve always believed that it is our Christian duty to hate the sin but never the sinner! Ok, I’m not going to sermonize any further here. Suffice it to say, that defamatory language is not only un-Christian, it gives fuel to the left’s argument that all Christians, all conservatives, etc., are hate-filled right-wing zealots!
To alleviate fears many Christians had that the bill would restrict religious expression opposing homosexuality, proponents of the bill added the following provision which led to endorsement of the bill by the ACLU.
“In a prosecution for an offense under this section, evidence of expression or associations of the defendant may not be introduced as substantive evidence at trial, unless the evidence specifically relates to that offense. However, nothing in this section affects the rules of evidence governing impeachment of a witness.”
Hmmmmm. . .”unless the evidence specifically relates to that offense”??? That doesn’t sound like much assurance or protection, does it???
According to an April 12th article in Civil Rights (a hate-crimes industry giant):
"Senators Edward Kennedy, D. Mass., and Gordon Smith, R. Ore., announced the introduction of a comprehensive hate crimes bill at an April 12 press conference in the Capitol. . .
The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crime Prevention Act (LLEHCPA) will expand coverage to include gender, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and individuals with disabilities. It also provide grants to state and local communities to combat violent crimes committed by juveniles, train law enforcement officers, or to assist in state and local investigations and prosecutions of bias motivated crimes. . .
The ACLU noted that it was the first hate crimes bill for which they had ever offered full support. The Interfaith Alliance said that many different faiths "speak with dramatic unanimity in vehemently condemning hate" and that passage of the bill will "send a clear message about America's values."
Yes it will send a clear message about America’s “NEW” values.
(1) The Federal government will dictate your new values to you.
(2) Your religious beliefs may be in direct conflict with “NEW” American values.
(3) You may not be free to express your religious beliefs if such beliefs could be viewed as an incitement to violence.
But when it comes to the actual need for this hate crime legislation, even these lefty zealots had to admit within the same article that:
"Recent data shows that hate violence continues to be a problem in the U.S. FBI statistics for 2005 showed a slight decline in hate crimes (about 7,163, down from 7,649 in 2004.), but major cities like New York City, Phoenix and states like Alabama and Mississippi did not report."
Read the text of H.R. 1592—“The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act” (To provide Federal assistance to States, local jurisdictions, and Indian tribes to prosecute hate crimes, and for other purposes.)
Join the Stop the ACLU coalition
"If you support the cause of the Coalition and believe hate crimes legislation
is dangerous for America, then you must act today. This bill (HB 1592), along with the so-called comprehensive immigration “reform” bill, also just introduced (no doubt with the ACLU’s full support as well), are likely the most critical pieces of legislation that absolutely must be defeated in this Congressional session. We will cover the immigration legislation sometime next week. But both are extremely important. If we fail to defeat either one or both, it will further set America back to the point we may lose our greatness and distinctness as a nation forever. "
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WHO'S BEHIND 'HATE' LAWS ?
ReplyDeleteTo find out, Yahoo or Google "The Earliest 'Hate' Criminals."
Matthew Shepard was murdered and hung on a fence because he was gay.
ReplyDeleteGood Lord..its the beginning of the ACLU's Stalinist regime!
ReplyDeleteIt's murder: dying gay at the hands of evil is no more dead than dying straight at the hands of evil.
ReplyDeleteWe cannot punish people's thoughts, but we can punish their deeds - the motive doesn't matter, unless it is a child, for whatever the reason.
The penalty for a crime should fit the crime - not fit someone's idea of discrimination or prejudice.
The fewer, but harsher, the laws - the better the law serves the people. We just need to make criminals pay the debt they owe to society. We already know what that debt is - we just need to call it due.
Maggie
Maggie's Notebook
uh, wiping my bacon on a letter to Ahmadinejad would be a hate crime then?
ReplyDeleteI am truly sorry about this...
ReplyDeleteLike it or not, a person's motivation for committing a crime is an important element in the determination of not just guilt, but penalty.
As for crimes against Jewish people, if you haven't been punched in the arm because you were Jewish, if you haven't been ridiculed for leaving school early so you could get to Hebrew School for religious instruction (when the Catholic kids in class were similarly excused to attend Catechism class), if you haven't been chased down the street by a pack of Italian bullies as you walked home from Temple on a Sabbath afternoon...and I could go on...then you don't have the perspective of hate crimes against Jews. If you haven't seen every headstone in a Jewish cemetary overturned, if you haven't seen a swastika spray painted on the side of your Temple or defacing the Holocaust Memorial that you helped to build that stood in front of that Temple...then you lack the perspective of of hate crimes against Jews.
Its all part of life's experiences. We all have our perspective.
Stormwarning, you are only partially correct. The person's motive does play an important element in certain crimes. Let's say someone steals some bread to survive - we probably wouldn't penalize them too much. But if they stole bread just to sell it and make money, then we would penalize them more. But killing someone on purpose (except for cases of self-defense) is hate. It does not make a difference how they do it, why they do it, or when they do it. It is hate. They should all be punished appropriately (death penalty anybody?). I guess if someone killed me it wouldn't be as near as important that I'm straight. In fact, why should that even enter into the law books? Dead is dead. Hate is hate. Murder is murder. Regardless. Wow, how many Americans no longer think? what a shame so many have fallen for such ridiculous tactics from the liberal left.
ReplyDeleteMatt, I am only "partially" correct in your mind, not in mine.
ReplyDeleteAnd blaming "ridiculous tactics from the liberal left" is just that.
But let's not clutter this nice lady's blog with a bicker on a subject on which you (and others) and I will not agree.
If I am attacked or harrassed while walking to Shul on High Holidays (as I was as a kid), it is a crime driven by someone else's anti-semitism (hate). If a Hasidic Rabbi is attacked and killed by a pack of "hooligans" (bullies of any creed or color), then it is hate that did it. Not just random crime. If my lesbian niece and her partner are attacked on the streets of their city because they walking down the street holding hands, then it is nothing but ignorant hate. Its not "just" another crime.
The First Amendment says "Congress shall make no law respecting freedom of speech" - but does this bill punish speech? No, it punishes intent - mens rea - which has always been an element of crime since before the Revolution. Do you know the definition of assault in most states? It requires "serious bodily harm," like a broken arm - otherwise, it's a misdemeanor, and do most police departments and courts take them seriously? No - they get plea bargained down, as do 95% of criminal cases. Because communities can't afford to bust the budget by investigating every crime.
ReplyDeleteBut targeting people for assault because of minority status targets the whole minority community, unlike an ordinary assault. 8,000 reported incidents last year targeted minority communities. http://www.fbi.gov/page2/april06/hatecrimes041006.htm And since it is well known that the FBI stats are underreported, it's probably more like twice or three times that.
If it was your family they were after, you'd have a different opinion.
Dr. Weiss:
ReplyDeleteYes I can agree that targeting people for assault because of minority status targets the whole minority community, but for anyone who has been assaulted there are no “ordinary” assaults. Intent is taken into account in the judicial process and that’s properly where it needs to be determined. Assessing additional penalties because the crime was motivated by hate of certain groups is a certain way to keep minorities perpetual victims of a further divided nation.
Let’s see . . . The current U.S. Population is approximately 302 million. That means that those who were affected by hate crimes comprise .000026% of the population. The overall number of 8,000 also includes all types of hate crimes, violent and non-violent, such as crimes against property.
Even if the FBI’s numbers are questionable, as some civil rights groups claim, let’s double the number for the sake of argument. That still leaves far less than a fraction of 1% of the people in the U.S. affected by hate crimes.
I have not been a victim of a hate crime but how do you know that my family has not been a victim of prejudice? How do you know that I haven’t suffered discrimination at the hands of those who are ignorant? When I was a child I was discriminated against because of my religion. That leaves a lasting memory. There will always be haters, and the ignorant, and hate and prejudice against one group or another. I, however, am just trying to look to the overall good of this nation so that we can once again start to build on national unity rather than divisiveness. Hate-crime legislation is purely divisive!
Let’s get beyond the victim mentality
Let’s get beyond the victim mentality...not knowning for sure, but if you've never been a target of hatred based on race or religion, then you cannot relate.
ReplyDeleteStormwarning:
ReplyDeleteGet out your glasses and re-read my comment above. I was a target of religious discrimination. It could have been motivated by hatred born of ignorance. Were you a victim of a hate crime, or do you interpret all discrimination as falling under the hate-crime category?
When prejudice and discrimination cause an act of physical violence, in my opinion it becomes a crime based on that prejudice or discrimination.
ReplyDeleteThere's a new movie out called God & Gays: Bridging the Gap that's really quite good. It's very comprehensive and it's good for gays and religious people and those interested. I highly recommend it. Their website is www.godandgaysthemovie.com.
ReplyDelete