[Comments on this legislation] [Post new comment] [Text and Analysis] [Add to Watch List]
[Previous] [Next]

• Introduced by Rep. Robert Jones (D) on April 28, 2009, to establish a new “bias-motivated” criminal offense for a person who selects the target of a violent crime or property crime based on a perception of the victim’s disability; gender; national origin or ancestry; race, color, or ethnicity; religion; sexual orientation, gender identity, or expression of gender; or a person’s or group’s association with one or more of these. Violations would be subject to up to two years in prison and a $5,000 fine if the underlying (“predicate”) crime is a misdemeanor, and up to 50 percent more than the sentence authorized for the predicate crime if it is a felony. A person could not be convicted of both the predicate crime and the “bias-motivated” crime (prosecutors would have to choose one or the other). .
  • Referred to the House Judiciary Committee on April 28, 2009.
    • Reported in the House on May 13, 2009, without amendment and with the recommendation that the bill pass.
  • Substitute offered by Rep. Tonya Schuitmaker (R) on May 20, 2009, to replace the previous version of the bill with one that does not change the penalties in the current law against “ethnic intimidation” or the law’s requirement that a perpertrator have a “specific intent” to harrass or intimidate another on the basis of belonging to a protected class, and which replaces a list of named protected class classes or groups in the introduced bill with requirement that the victim be targeted on the basis of unspecified “common characteristics” with any group. It would also create an explicit new crime of hanging nooses and cross-burnings on a person’s property with the intent to intimidate. The substitute failed in the House (52 to 56) on May 20, 2009. [Vote Details and Comments]
  • Substitute offered by Rep. Tom McMillin (R) on May 20, 2009, to replace the previous version of the bill with one that would instead create an explicit new crime of hanging nooses and cross-burnings on a person’s property with the intent to intimidate. The substitute failed in the House by voice vote on May 20, 2009.
  • Amendment offered by Rep. Tom McMillin (R) on May 20, 2009, to explicitly exclude "an orientation for or history of pedophilia" as a characteristic that would define a protected class under the law. The amendment failed in the House by voice vote on May 20, 2009.
  • Amendment offered by Rep. Larry DeShazor (R) on May 20, 2009, to require that a perpertrator have a “specific intent” to harrass or intimidate another on the basis of belonging to a protected class. The amendment passed in the House by voice vote on May 20, 2009.
  • Amendment offered by Rep. Kathy Angerer (D) on May 20, 2009, to include "age" as one of the characteristics that would constitute a protected group under the bill. The amendment passed in the House by voice vote on May 20, 2009.
• Passed in the House (66 to 43) on May 20, 2009, to establish a new “bias-motivated” criminal offense for a person who selects the target of a violent crime or property crime based on a perception of the victim’s disability; gender; national origin or ancestry; age; race, color, or ethnicity; religion; sexual orientation, gender identity, or expression of gender; or a person’s or group’s association with one or more of these. Violations would be subject to up to two years in prison and a $5,000 fine if the underlying (“predicate”) crime is a misdemeanor, and up to 50 percent more than the sentence authorized for the predicate crime if it is a felony. A person could not be convicted of both the predicate crime and the “bias-motivated” crime (prosecutors would have to choose one or the other). . [Vote Details and Comments]
• Received in the Senate on May 21, 2009.
  • Referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 21, 2009.