07/17/2009
Senate Approves Federal Hate Crimes Bill as Amendment to DoD Bill
An expansion of Michael's earlier post...
Attached as an amendment to a defense spending bill expected to pass early next week, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, or, Matthew Shepard Act, passed on a voice vote on Thursday, extending protections of the 1968 hate crimes law to include sexual orientation and gender identity, the AP reports:
"The Senate on Thursday approved the most sweeping expansion of
federal hate crimes law since Congress responded four decades ago to
the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr....Voice vote passage came immediately after supporters cleared a 60-vote
procedural hurdle imposed by Republicans trying to block consideration
of the legislation. That vote was 63-28."
Also:
"Supporters...emphasized that prosecutions under the bill can occur only when bodily injury is involved, and no minister or protester could be targeted for expressing opposition to homosexuality, even if their statements are followed by another person committing a violent action. To emphasize the point, the Senate passed provisions restating that the bill does not prohibit constitutionally protected speech and that free speech is guaranteed unless it is intended to plan or prepare for an act of violence. The Traditional Values Coalition had expressed concern in a letter to senators that a pastor could be prosecuted for "conspiracy to commit a hate crime" if a sermon resulted in a person acting aggressively against someone based on sexual orientation."
There is a potential pitfall to the bill's passage: "Though the amendment garnered three votes more than necessary to reach cloture, the fate of the hate crimes measure is now partially linked to $1.75 billion in funding for F-22 fighter jets that is also included in the DOD legislation. President Barack Obama and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates both oppose the F-22 program and a White House spokesperson said the president will not sign a DOD bill that continues to fund the program."
Majority Leader Harry Reid still feels a rewritten bill will eventually pass with the hate crimes amendment in place.
Posted 7:27 AM EST by Andy Towle in Barack Obama, Crime, Judy Shepard, Matthew Shepard, News | Permalink
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This is a prime example of why Presidents need the line item veto. If President Obama vetoes this bill, he's going to take a lot of flak from the gay community. There's already a flaming post on Advocate.com calling him a "homophobic N******". But I would not hold it against him if he vetoed this ridiculous spending. And Hate Crimes could be added to a more palatable bill or stand on its own.
Posted by: Hank | Jul 17, 2009 8:46:14 AM
Shouldn't a pastor be held responsible for a sermon that incites violence against anyone? Isn't that the opposite of what they're supposed to do?
Posted by: JP | Jul 17, 2009 9:08:12 AM
Obama doesn't give a shit about the gay community or the flak he'll catch. He'll veto the bill, and blame it on the rest of the bill, and want the line item veto, and then give another speech about how we shouldn't be discriminating about gay people.
Posted by: Roscoe | Jul 17, 2009 9:51:15 AM
This is a typically nasty example of Washington Politics in play. Texas and Connecticut senators will want the F-22 Program funded as big defense contracts for Lockheed-Martin and Pratt & Whitney. Attaching the Hate Crimes Bill to this either gives Obama an legitimate excuse to veto and therefore continue to abrogate his promises to the LGBTQI community or it puts pressure on him to approve big spending or face the growing ire in our community.
Personally, I think its the former. I would not be surprised if the White house engineered this situation so that they could take no action on Hate Crimes and come off smelling clean for it. Its clear from his history since taking office that Obama really doesn't give a second thought to betraying the needs of the LGBTQI community. Sure, he'll throw us nice parties and give us florid speeches full of promise. Where is he when it comes time to actually do something meaningful? Nowhere to be found!
The Audacity of Hope? Change we can believe in? LIES! Its more likely the Audacity of Hype , and the only Change hes really made since taking office is his mailing address.
Obama, in looking for consensus is backsliding all over the place. Military Tribunals are starting back in Gitmo, No action has been taken on DADT - even where he could, No legislative action on DOMA, a growing lack of governmental transparency. While the big O waits for a non existant consensus its business as usual by Bush-Cheney low level appointees.
Posted by: Robert Rhea | Jul 17, 2009 10:32:04 AM
Once again, a major fail by Dems.
Posted by: David | Jul 17, 2009 10:40:16 AM
I gotta agree. If he's so keen on signing the bill, (a) why did it end up on a dead-end bill that we know the Prez will veto, and (b) why the hell didn't it just stand on its own... either way, we're once again victims of the political process. woo hoo.
Posted by: DR | Jul 17, 2009 10:43:17 AM
The Mathew Sheppard Hate Crimes bill is pretty weak but it’s a start.
What we really need is a bill that declares that politicians and cult leaders who promote homohatred are accessories and accomplices to any and all acts of bigoted violence and that they should get coequal sentencing. Jimmy Swaggart, the pentecostal homohater who loves to go muff diving on street prostitutes said “I'm trying to find the correct name for it ... this utter absolute, asinine, idiotic stupidity of men marrying men. ... I've never seen a man in my life I wanted to marry. And I'm gonna be blunt and plain; if one ever looks at me like that, I'm gonna kill him and tell God he died". He’s look good in prison stripes.
The Mathew Sheppard Hate Crimes actually passed both Houses in 2007 but Reid and Kennedy attached it to a defense bill and then dropped it shortly before xmas 2007. Then Pelosi and Barney Quisling gave us another xmas gift. They gutted ENDA. Both were meant to eliminate any danger that Democrats like Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama could be accused of being LGBT friendly.
Not that there ever was any danger of that.
Now Reid’s attached it to another genocide funding bill. Once again, as in 2007 the genocide funding bill faces a veto, this time over the question on continuing the F-22 program. The F-22, nicknamed the “Raptor” was used extensively to drop white phosphorus napalm bombs in Fallujah. Calling funding used to murder tens of thousands of Iraqis, Pakistanis and Afghans a ‘defense’ bill is a crock.
Now it beginning to smell a lot like xmas 2007 again... and it's rotten as it gets
Posted by: Bill Perdue | Jul 17, 2009 12:55:53 PM