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“INTRODUCTION OF THE LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT HATE CRIMES PREVENTION ACT OF 2009” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E878-E879 on April 2, 2009.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
INTRODUCTION OF THE LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT HATE CRIMES PREVENTION ACT OF
2009
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HON. JOHN CONYERS, JR.
of michigan
in the house of representatives
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Mr. CONYERS. Madam Speaker, I am pleased to introduce the bipartisan Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, along with Representatives Kirk, Frank, Biggert, Baldwin, Ros-Lehtinen, Nadler, Bono Mack and Polis. This legislation will provide assistance to state and local law enforcement agencies and amend federal law to facilitate the investigation and prosecution of violent, bias-motivated crimes. Last Congress, this legislation passed with bipartisan support by a vote of 237-180. Bipartisan majorities have also voted in favor of hate crimes legislation for the last three consecutive Congresses. With a strong statement of Presidential support, the time has finally come for the enactment of this important legislation.
The Hate Crimes Prevention Act has attracted the support of nearly 300 civil rights, education, religious, and civic organizations. Importantly, virtually every major law enforcement organization in the country has endorsed the bill--including the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the National District Attorneys Association, the National Sheriffs Association, the Police Executive Research Forum, and 31 state Attorneys General.
At a time when our nation is celebrating its diversity, bias crimes are disturbingly prevalent and pose a significant threat to the full participation of all Americans in our democratic society. In the wake of the November Presidential election, the Southern Poverty Law Center has detailed hundreds of hate crime incidents, vandalism and threats, including the election-night assault of Alie Kamara on Staten Island by two teenagers who shouted racial epithets and ``Obama!'' as they beat him. Moreover, statistics have shown hate crimes against Latinos and Asian Americans rising steadily over the past four years as the immigration has grown more intense. In the last eight months, there have three brutal hate-
related murders of Latinos in New York and Pennsylvania. While intolerance may be in retreat, its presence is still felt in many minority communities.
The FBI has the best national data on reported hate crime, though the program is voluntary. Since 1991, the FBI has documented over 118,000 hate crimes. For the year 2007, the most current data available, the FBI compiled reports from law enforcement agencies across the country identifying 7,624 bias-motivated criminal incidents that were directed against an individual because of their personal characteristics. Law enforcement agencies identified 9,535 victims arising from 9,006 separate criminal offenses. As in the past, racially motivated bias accounted for approximately half (50.8 %) of all incidents. Religious bias accounted for 1,400 incidents (18.4 %) and sexual orientation bias accounted for 1,265 incidents--(16.6 %), followed by ethnicity/national origin bias with 1,007 incidents--(13.2%). While these numbers are disturbing, it is important to note that, for a variety of reasons, hate crimes are seriously under-reported.
Despite the deep impact of hate violence on communities, current law limits federal jurisdiction over hate crimes to incidents directed against individuals on the basis of race, religion, color or national origin--but only when the victim is targeted because he/she is engaged in a federally protected activity, such as voting. Further, the statutes do not permit federal involvement in a range of cases where crimes are motivated by bias against the victim's perceived sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or disability. The federal government must have authority to be involved in investigating and prosecuting these crimes when state authorities cannot or will not do so.
This legislation, which is identical to the version approved in the 110th Congress, will strengthen existing federal law in the same way that the Church Arson Prevention Act of 1996 helped federal prosecutors combat church arson: by addressing the unduly rigid jurisdictional requirements under federal law. The bill only applies to bias-motivated violent crimes and does not impinge public speech or writing in any way. In fact, the measure includes an explicit First Amendment free speech protection for the accused modeled on the existing Washington state hate crimes statute. This bill will only apply to criminal conduct that is already being prosecuted.
State and local authorities currently prosecute the overwhelming majority of hate crimes and will continue to do so under this legislation. The federal government will continue to defer to state and local authorities in the vast majority of cases; the Attorney General or other high ranking Justice Department official must approve any prosecutions undertaken pursuant to this law, ensuring federal restraint. However, in appropriate circumstances, the federal government will be able to provide support for local prosecutions--an intergovernmental grant program created by this legislation will make Justice Department technical, forensic or prosecutorial assistance available. The legislation also authorizes the Attorney General to make grants to state and local law enforcement agencies that have incurred extraordinary expenses associated with the investigation and prosecution of hate crimes.
Hate crime statistics do not speak for themselves. Behind each of the statistics is an individual or community targeted for violence for no other reason than race, religion, color, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or disability. Law enforcement authorities and civic leaders have learned that a failure to address the problem of bias crime can cause a seemingly isolated incident to fester into widespread tension that can damage the social fabric of the wider community. The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 is a constructive and measured response to a problem that continues to plague our nation. These are crimes that shock and shame our national conscience. They should be subject to comprehensive federal law enforcement assistance and prosecution.
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