Expansion of Hate Crimes Bill Passed in the House of Representatives
April 30, 2009 by Guest Writer 1
Filed under Civil Rights, General, Politics
On April 29, 2009, the House of Representatives passed an expansion on the Federal Hate Crimes Bill that was previously vetoed in a weaker form by former President George W. Bush. The bill passed by a vote of 249 to 175, almost exclusively along party lines, with only 18 Republicans voting for the bill, and only 15 Democrats voting against it. The expansion of the bill broadens the protected groups of people by “classifying as “hate crimes” those attacks based on a victim’s sexual orientation, gender identity or mental or physical disability.” The bill formerly included the categories of “a victim’s race, color, religion, national origin, [or] gender,” and allows the Federal government to prosecute these crimes with a greater punishment than crimes that are not based on “hate.”
The House debated the bill for hours, with passionate arguments on both sides. Here is an account of a few of the arguments presented:
Hours of debate preceding the bill included a stirring account by Rep. Jim Jordan of his attempt to add “the unborn” to the list of protected persons on the bill, with the amendment being voted down because the unborn were “not persons.” Contrasted with this were libelous and vacuous declarations by those for the bill, including one representative who quoted from the Ten Commandments as he accused those against the bill of “bearing false witness” in their attempts to raise warnings about the possible use of this law to muzzle and/or prosecute religious leaders when they attempt to speak negatively about homosexuality, and a declaration from another congressman that thinking the Hate Crimes Bill was about thought-crimes was like believing anti-lynching laws were about knot-tying.
The “political correctness” of the hate crime laws and punishments are more about thought and motivation than about the actual crimes being committed, which is the reason many of the Republicans opposing the bill quoted Animal Farm in making the argument that specifying categories for “hate crimes” would simply mean that “all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others.” Here is what one Denver lawyer has to say about Colorado’s hate crime law, which is very similar to the bill which has just been passed in the House:
Colorado’s so-called “bias-motivated crime” law does nothing but provide government prosecutors nearly unchecked power to stop you from thinking certain thoughts. The politically correct categories that politicians have carved out for imprisonment — i.e., “race, color, ancestry, religion, national origin, physical or mental disability, or sexual orientation” — beg the question as to why crimes motivated by any other irrational category, such as political affiliation, are not similarly deserving of extra cage time.
The House did indeed vote down including “amendments [that] also seek to expand the applicability requirements to include age, status as a current or former member of the Armed Forces, or status as a law enforcement officer beyond what is currently contained in the bill.”
Are these groups of people any less valuable, or violent crimes committed against them any less reprehensible than the groups who were included in the amendment? All violent crimes could be considered “hate” crimes, and ought to be treated equally, as all violence is absolutely wrong and unjustifiable.
Gods law is first! These devilish antichrist politicians I will totally thumb my nose at if I were a preacher. All preachers are going to do is go underground-and they arn’t going to be stopped. I think a revolution should truly occur about this.