Hate Crimes Sentencing Act (H 6147 A, S 803)

Though hate crimes deserve condemnation, we opposed a piece of legislation that would have expanded the scope of the Hate Crimes Sentencing Act in a way which could have established a hate crime based solely on the defendant’s speech without a finding of animus. We expressed particular concerns over an expansion of the definition of “hate crime” to any person or group being the target of a crime “in whole or in part” due to a protected characteristic such as race. We noted the law could be used against, for example, Black Lives Matter protestors charged with a minor offense resulting from a protest against systemic racism. While this bill did pass the Senate, it died in committee in the House after expressions of opposition from the ACLU and other advocacy groups.