Hate Crimes
Current Status: Referred to Senate Committee on Judiciary (06/27/2007)
History: |
Sponsors: |
|
|---|---|---|
06/27/2007 - Referred to Senate Committee on Judiciary |
Anderson, Glenn (D-6) |
Hunter, Tupac (D-5) |
06/27/2007 - Introduced by Senator Hansen Clarke |
Basham, Raymond (D-8) |
Jacobs, Gilda (D-14) |
Brater, Liz (D-18) |
Schauer, Mark (D-19) | |
Clarke, Hansen (D-1) |
Whitmer, Gretchen (D-23) | |
Current Michigan Law
The current hate crimes law, called The Ethnic Intimidation Act, currently requires the following criteria to be met:
A person is guilty of ethnic intimidation if that person maliciously, and with specific intent to intimidate or harass another person because of that person's race, color, religion, gender, or national origin, does any of the following:
(a) Causes physical contact with another person.
(b) Damages, destroys, or defaces any real or personal property of another person.
(c) Threatens, by word or act, to do an act described in subdivision (a) or (b), if there is reasonable cause to believe that an act described in subdivision (a) or (b) will occur.
Michigan Equality and a coalition of groups are working to change the law to include sexual orientation, gender identity and expression. Michigan Equality would also like to see the two-year prison sentence for those found guilty of violating the act changed from concurrent to consecutive sentences.
Did you know...
... That reported hate crimes against the LGBT community rose 133% in Michigan in 2007?
... That reported hate crimes against the LGBT community rose 24% in the nation in 2007?
... That reported hate groups has nearly doubled since 2000 according to the Southern Poverty Law Center?
... The lastest statistics available from the FBI show that reported hate crimes against any protected or unprotected class have rose by 8% in 2006?
What Can You Do?
Talking Points
A hate crime occurs when the perpetrator of the crime intentionally selects the victim because of the way a victim acts or appears. While violent hate crimes are a widespread and serious problem in our nation, it is not the frequency or number of violent hate crimes alone that distinguish these acts of violence from other types of crime. A random act of violence resulting in injury or even death is a tragic event that devastates the lives of the victim and their family, but the intentional selection and beating or murder of an individual because of who they are terrorizes an entire community and sometimes the nation. A 2006, Harris Interactive poll found that 64 percent of gays and lesbians are concerned about being the victim of a bias-motivated crime.
Michigan currently has an ethnic intimidation act on the books. The change that is being asked in the current legislation is an amendment to the law, now a new law. Nor is it solely about gay rights; it's about being able to live without fear.
The proposed amendment to the Ethnic Intimidation Act would not only extend overdue protections to lesbians, gays, bisexual and transgender persons who are victims of hate crime, but it would also help he law enforcement community use the law more frequently. The proposed amendment, if passed, would allow the penalty for hate crimes to be served consecutive to the sentence for the actual crime. Currently the two penalties would be served concurrently, making it virtually useless to law enforcement.
Background
Michigan 's current Ethnic Intimidation Act, was seriously flawed from the day it was signed into law. Any attempt to add either sexual orientation or gender identity protections was mercilessly crushed by the Republican Party's right wing (including a sympathetic Governor). And this was after testimony from many experts (including Triangle, the ACLU, and others) mandated the need for these protections, the Legislature refused to add them to the law because then-Gov. Engler indicated he would have vetoed the law. Today, we have a chance to address that situation and right that wrong.
The Michigan Ethnic Intimidation Law provides for up to two years in prison for harassing someone because of their race, color, religion, gender, or national origin. Members of the LGBT community are among the most targeted groups for hate crimes. Adding sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression to the law would help protect the safety of Michigan 's LGBT community.
We cannot allow a discrimination protection law to inflict discrimination itself by neglecting to incorporate sexual orientation into the law. Please act today and become a supporter of this important bill.
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