6-06-05,3:40am

While property damage may appear to be the least damaging type of hate crime, recent incidences of burning swastikas and other racist messages in San Jose, California lawns in late May indicates that hate crimes haven’t vanished. In fact, according to a recent story in the Christian Science Monitor, hate crimes may be on the rise.

Cross-burnings, threats of violence against gay people, anti-immigrant vigilantism, numerous incidents of anti-Semitic graffiti, influx of whites-only groups and racial separatists in some areas, have combined with growing anti-Muslim actions in all regions of the country.

After a small dip in the total number of hate crimes reports collected by the FBI between 2001 and 2002, over 9,100 hate crimes were reported by law enforcement agencies in 2003. This is a jump of well over 21% in a single year.

Current federal law requires the U.S. Department of Justice to acquire data on crimes that “manifest prejudice based on race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, or ethnicity” from law enforcement agencies across the country and to publish an annual summary of the findings.

Victims of hate crimes may not be as likely to report incidents as are victims of other types of crimes, says a study by the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE). The study suggests that immigrants or gay and lesbian people fear reprisals, do not want attention drawn to their situation, or for other reasons do not always report hate crimes.

NOBLE believes that for these and other reasons the data compiled by the Justice Department is always an underestimation of the real number of hate crimes. The Southern Poverty Law Center, an organization that closely follows trends of hate violence and racist groups, believes the real figure is probably closer to 50,000 incidents of hate crime annually.

The large quantity of hate-based crimes and the broad impact they have on whole communities, rather than just on individuals or families, require special attention. Legally, hate crimes require direct federal involvement.

A recent statement issued by the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR), a coalition of labor unions and civil rights organizations, says, “Bias-motivated crimes are designed to intimidate the victim and members of the victim’s community, leaving them feeling isolated, vulnerable, and unprotected by the law. These incidents damage the fabric of our society and fragment communities.”

Unfortunately, argues the LCCR, restrictive conditions written into current laws limit the ability of federal officials to become involved in many cases that are reported as hate crimes. As the law stands now, in order for a crime to be prosecuted under hate crimes statutes, the government must prove that the crime occurred because of a person’s membership in a protected group and engaging in a federally-protected activity, such as voting, working, attending school, etc.

Specific provisions in pending hate crimes legislation (Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2005) will broaden the powers of federal agencies to investigate crimes committed because of bias motives. It would enhance the federal response to hate crime violence by covering all violent crimes based on race, color, religion, or national origin. The bill will also permit federal involvement in the prosecution of bias-motivated crimes based on the victim’s gender, sexual orientation, or disability.

One problem is that motivation is difficult to prove except by the circumstance under which the incidents occurred. Expanded definitions in pending hate crimes legislation would allow prosecution of a crime as a hate crime if it is committed against a member of protected group while engaged in a protected activity.

Additionally, pending legislation would provide expanded authority for federal officials to investigate and prosecute cases in which the bias violence occurs because of the victim’s actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender, or disability. Current federal law does not provide authority for involvement in these cases at all. Finally, this legislation would allow federal assistance and involvement in cases where local officials refuse or are unable by law to treat incidents of hate crimes as such.

For these reasons, several civil rights organizations have strongly urged passage of the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2005.

The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2005 was introduced by Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) and the leading co-sponsors are Reps. Barney Frank (D-MA), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Christopher Shays (R-CT), and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI). Organizations such as the LCCR, American Civil Liberties Union and the Human Rights Campaign have endorsed passage of the bill.



--Contact Clara West at pa-letters@politicalaffairs.net.