Introduced
by
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 Committee on Judiciary
Reported without amendment
Without amendment and with the recommendation that the bill pass.
Substitute offered
by
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 52 to 56 (details)
Substitute offered
by
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 by voice vote
Amendment offered
by
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 by voice vote
Amendment offered
by
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 by voice vote
Amendment offered
by
To include "age" as one of the characteristics that would constitute a protected group under the bill.
The amendment passed by voice vote
Passed in the House 66 to 43 (details)
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)..
Referred to the Committee on Judiciary
