may 2T. 1999 •
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A H eartfelt P lea
Committee hears testimony— including the emotionally charged words
of Judy Shepard— regarding federal hate crimes act by Bob Roehr
“ '"Wr n M att’s room at the hospital, what we
£ found was a motionless, unaware young
man with his head swathed in bandages,
his face covered with stitches, and tubes
everywhere— enabling the body to hold
on to life,” Judy Shepard told a hushed hearing
room. “O ne of his eyes was partially open. But
the twinkle o£ life wasn’t there anymore.”
M atthew Shepard’s mother offered her pow
erful testimony during a May 11 hearing regard
ing the federal Hate Crimes Prevention A ct of
1999, which is under consideration by the Sen
ate Judiciary Committee.
T he bill, sponsored by Sens. Arlen Specter,
R-Pa., and Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., would
add disability, gender and sexual orientation to
federal civil rights laws and would make it easi
er for the Justice Department to investigate and
prosecute. C urrent
law prohibits crimes
based on race, color,
religion or national
origin.
Eight states have
no hate crimes laws.
Laws in 21 states
cover sexual orienta
tion.
Twenty-two
state laws include
gender, and 21 cover
disability.
C hairm an O rrin
H atch,
R -U tah,
spoke of “facts and
issues th at are at
once staggering and
difficult."
He
described the matter
Judy Shepard (left)
as “an intersection
between our well-intentioned desire to investi
gate, prosecute and, hopefully, end these vicious
crimes, and our unequivocal duty to respect the
constitutional boundaries governing any legisla
tive action we take.”
Hatch then asked for additional data on bias
crimes, saying it was essential before Congress
moves ahead on legislation to broaden existing
civil rights laws.
Kennedy had no such qualms.
“Tragically, the silence of Congress on this
basic issue has been deafening, and it is unac
ceptable,” he thundered. “We must stop acting
like we don’t care— that somehow this funda
mental issue is just a state and local problem. It
isn’t. It’s a national problem, and for too long,
Congress has been AWOL.”
Deputy A ttorney General Eric Holder testi
fied that current federal law is “simply inade
quate” and has halted federal officials from
assisting local officials in some cases.
Since the Justice Department has prosecuted
an average of six cases per year under existing
hate crimes statutes— and does not anticipate
that number increasing significantly under the
proposed expansion— H atch suggested the
department could request only the power to
assist state and local officials in their prosecu
tion of hate crimes.
Holder countered by saying federal authori
ties want the ability to act independently “when
state and local authorities are unwilling or
unable to prosecute a case." W hen pressed, he
was unable to cite examples of this happening,
but promised to respond in writing.
“Let me ask you about the inclusion of gen
der,” said Hatch. “Rapists are very seldom indif
ferent to the gender of their victims.” Would
rape then become a federal crime?
“N ot all rape cases would be brought in fed
eral court,” said Holder. He compared it to exist
ing gun and drug laws where there is overlap
ping jurisdiction. In such cases, local and feder
al authorities consult to decide where charges
will be filed.
Specter, meanwhile, called hate crimes "real
ly hot potatoes" that local prosecutors may be
reluctant to handle.
New York Republican Jeanine Ferris Pirro,
W estchester C ounty’s district attorney, testified
she was concerned about the expansion of fed
eral jurisdiction.
She forcefully stated, however, that “hate
crime is a civil rights issue, and the proper role
of the federal government in controlling this
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menace should mirror federal action in other
areas of civil rights.”
She added: "In the 1960’s, there were states
unwilling to guarantee equal rights to all Amer
icans. Citizens across our nation responded by
raising their voices in a cry for justice.... Even
tually, our government declared that civil rights
cannot be allowed to fall prey to bigotry and
intolerance. Senators, today we are still march-
mg.
Kenneth Brown is one of only three prose
cuting attorneys for Albany County, Wyo.,
where trials are underway related to the murder
last year of M atthew Shepard, a gay college stu
dent. “A case of this magnitude and import puts
a financial strain on our county like nothing else
we’ve experienced,” he testified.
Bill opponents included Robert Knight of
the Family Research Council.
“T he whole concept of hate crimes is flawed
because it sets up special classes of victims
afforded a higher level of protection than others
victimized by similar crimes," Knight said.
“Run-of-the-mill crime victims do not have a
lobby.”
But Judy Shepard pleaded for the bill’s imme
diate passage.
♦
“I can assure opponents of this legislation,
first hand, it was not words or thoughts, but vio
lent actions that killed my son,” she said, adding
that, had such a law been in place at the time of
her son’s death, “perhaps these murderers would
have gotten the message that this country does
not tolerate hate-motivated violence. Maybe I
would not have to be here today, talking about
how my son was savagely beaten, tied to a fence
and left to die in freezing temperatures."
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