President Obama signed legislation today, attached to an unrelated bill regarding defense spending for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, that includes a new protected class of people into the provisions of federal hate crime legislation – homosexuals.
Specifically, the bill expands already-existing law that prosecutes crimes more harshly when the victim is of a certain protected class. Now, hate crime laws “protect” those based on gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability.
“No one in America should ever be afraid to walk down the street holding the hands of the person they love,” remarked the president. “No one in America should be forced to look over their shoulder because of who they are, or because they live with a disability.”
The signing of this bill provides Democrats in Washington a long-awaited victory, but it angers Conservatives and other believers in a small government who argue that it creates special classes of victims where certain crimes are treated differently than others based on the victim’s protected status.
The bill does not change specific state-related policies regarding the prosecution of so-called hate crimes, but it does broaden the area where federal authorities can intervene into state matters and pursue investigations if they feel state resources are inadequate.
The new hate crime protections were attached to a $680 billion defense-spending bill that expands spending on the U.S.’s Middle Eastern wars.
Discussion
No comments for “Obama expands hate crimes to include homosexuals”