The Senate passed federal hate crimes legislation criminalizing crime specifically directed against someone due to their sexual orientation or gender identity. George Bush had previously stymied this legislation because he promised to veto it. President Obama has promised to sign it into law.
This bill is long overdue.
Analysis
A common complaint against federal hate crimes law is that it makes favorites out of the law. That is not so. The long and true history is that when it is left to the states, crimes against certain people tend to be under-prosecuted. Traditionally, crimes against blacks and other minorities, and now crimes against homosexuals, tend to be trivialized into irrelevance when left up to local authorities. Federalizing certain crimes is simply a way for the federal government to ensure that all victims are properly represented by the prosecuting government.
0 comments:
Post a Comment