Hate-crimes bill becomes law: Religious opinion divided

Posted on October 13th, 2009

Archived in Crime, Current edition, Gender issues, Government & politics, Homosexuality, Legislation, Race/ethnicity, Writing

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A landmark hate-crimes bill expanding federal statutes to include protections for homosexuals was signed into law on Oct. 28, 2009 by President Barack Obama. The law is a landmark achievement for the gay community but a dividing line for some religious groups.

hate crimesThe law is often called the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, after the young gay man beaten to death in Laramie, Wyo., in October 1998 and the African-American man dragged to his death behind a pickup truck in Texas in June of that year.

The two acts of violence, born of prejudice, galvanized activists to seek hate-crimes protection for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

But the path from these killings to a federal law has been arduous. As Wikipedia’s entry on the subject shows, the first version of an expanded hate-crimes bill was introduced in April 2001, in the 107th Congress, and follow-ups have been reintroduced each time it stalled, up through this, the 111th Congress.

WHY IT MATTERS

Concern is growing that hate crimes against all groups are on the rise, fueled by the economic downturn and the increasingly rancorous tone of discourse in American society. That anger often cues off the election of Obama as the first African-American president as well as fears of “big government” policies. It can also be wrapped in religious language, even though most religious traditions oppose bigotry and violence. There is a further divide in that many religious groups support a broadened federal hate-crimes law while others worry that such a measure would threaten their constitutional right — and God-given duty — to speak out on moral issues.

WHAT’S NEW

In addition to the new hate-crimes law, the FBI this month is to release its annual report on Hate Crime Statistics. The report will detail hate crimes from 2008. More than 7,600 hate crimes were reported in 2007.

A brutal Oct. 8, 2009, beating in New York City by two attackers left an openly gay man in a coma. The beating was classified as a hate crime; it was caught on a surveillance video and made headlines around the country.

Obama spoke at the Human Rights Campaign annual dinner in Washington on Oct. 10, 2009, only the second time a president has addressed one of the leading gay rights organizations.

RESOURCES and BACKGROUND

The Library of Congress’ online service has information on the House bill, known as H.R. 1913. The Senate bill is S. 909 and can be found here. Govtrack.us followed the path of the bill.

Among religious groups, every major mainline Protestant denomination, many Jewish organizations and the major Muslim and Sikh associations support the bill. They say their religious principles demand equal protection of all people.

In June 2009, the Unitarian Universalist Association launched a campaign against hate crimes called “Standing on the Side of Love.” The campaign was a response to a July 27, 2008, attack on the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church that killed two people and wounded seven. The gunman told authorities he was angered by the church’s acceptance of homosexuality and other liberal causes.

But many conservative Christian groups opposed the measure. While condemning hate crimes as heinous, they fear that preaching against homosexuality, which they consider sinful, could be deemed a hate crime under the legislation. Further, they say clergy could be prosecuted if someone committed a hate crime because of a sermon or pastoral counseling labeling homosexuality immoral. Many constitutional specialists say these fears are groundless, as such speech would be protected by the First Amendment.

Read an Oct. 13, 2009, blog post at “On Faith” by David Waters about the religiously based opposition to the hate-crimes bill.

Factcheck.org has an analysis to address the concern over whether a hate-crime law covering sexual orientation could lead to charges against pastors who preach that homosexuality is a sin. Factcheck.org says no, but Catholic League head Bill Donohue — who has expressed strong reservations about the bill — disputed that analysis in a news release.

Read a June 16, 2009, Christiannewswire.com story about a letter from 60 religious conservatives asking senators to filibuster the hate-crimes bill then under consideration for fear it would “criminalize preaching the Gospel and put preachers in the crosshairs.” Among the signers were James Dobson of Focus on the Family, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, Don Wildmon of the American Family Association, Gary Bauer of American Values, Phyllis Schlafly of the Eagle Forum and  Wendy Wright of Concerned Women for America.

Read an April 27, 2009, interview at ReligionDispatches.org with Leonard Zeskind, author of a new book, Blood and Politics: The History of the White Nationalist Movement From the Margins to the Mainstream. Among other things, the book describes the religious roots of the movement.

CRIME and PUNISHMENT

The FBI’s latest hate crimes tally covers 2007. (The bureau also has an index of all hate crime statistics since 1995.)

An analysis of the statistics by Human Rights First shows that while the number of hate crimes remained steady from 2006 to 2007, the number of attacks targeting Hispanics and LGBT people rose. The FBI reports showed a 3.3 percent rise in anti-Hispanic hate crimes and a 5.5 percent rise in the number of hate crimes motivated by a sexual orientation bias. The analysis notes that sexual orientation bias crimes “continue to be characterized by a high level of violence” and that five of the nine reported hate crime killings were committed on the basis of sexual orientation bias. “There is also a higher proportion of personal assaults than in other categories of hate crime,” it says. “Over 47 percent of sexual orientation bias offenses were violent assaults, in comparison to 31 percent for all hate crimes.”

The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs tracks hate crimes against the LGBT community. The coalition estimates that virtually all openly LGBT youth experience hate violence, and that 40 percent of gay men and lesbians have had such an experience as adults. (Scroll toward bottom of page.) Read the coalition’s report for 2006.

According to a June 2007 report by the Williams Institute, lesbians, gay men and bisexuals report rates of hate-crime victimization similar to that reported by several groups already protected by federal hate-crimes law. On average, the report says, 13 in 100,000 lesbians, bisexuals and gay men report being victimized, compared with 8 in 100,000 African-Americans, 12 in 100,000 Muslims and 15 in 100,000 Jews. The institute is a think tank at the University of California, Los Angeles, law school that focuses on sexual-orientation law and public policy.

In April 2009, the Department of Homeland Security released a report detailing concerns about a rise in right-wing extremism. The Washington Times’ story is here, and in The New York Times, columnist Charles Blow parses the figures and uses a graphic to illustrate the dependence of right-wing hate groups on recruits with military training.

Several high-profile hate crimes have made headlines in 2009, confirming fears for some that bias attacks are on the rise. They include the April killing of three Pittsburgh policemen by a right-wing extremist and the shooting in June at the Holocaust Museum in Washington by an elderly white supremacist that left a security guard dead.

An April 8, 2009, story in The Washington Post, “Some Link Economy With Spate Of Killings,” examines links between the recession and 57 killings in eight mass-murder crimes over the course of a single month last spring.

The Southern Poverty Law Center has a state-by-state map of identified hate groups. The center says that in 2008 there were 926 hate groups operating throughout the United States, an increase of more than 50 percent since 2000.

Partners Against Hate maintains a state-by-state database of hate-crime statistics and hate-crime laws.

ReligiousTolerance.org has a Web page of hate-crime definitions and existing laws and another on hate-crime laws and sexual orientation. It also has a page dedicated to the question of whether hate-crimes legislation limits free speech.

PUBLIC OPINION

Gauging public opinion, especially when it comes to bias regarding sexual orientation, race or ethnicity, can be tricky, experts say.

For example, polls have consistently shown wide support for expanding hate-crime laws. A May 2007 Gallup survey showed that by a 78-18 percent ratio, Americans favored existing hate-crime laws for acts “committed on the basis of the victim’s race, color, religion or national origin.” That ratio dropped slightly, to 68-27 percent in favor, when respondents were asked whether sexual orientation and gender identity should be included. Support for such an expansion was 60 percent or higher among Republicans and weekly church attenders as well.

Yet many conservative Christian groups have been strongly opposed to the expansion of federal hate-crime legislation, and in 2007 the White House said President George W. Bush would veto a bill if it reached his desk.

Moreover, a Pew survey from Oct. 9, 2009, shows that while support for civil unions for homosexuals is slowly rising among the public (57-37 percent), opposition to gay marriage remains steady, at 53-39 percent opposed. And attitudes toward homosexual activity are largely unchanged, and generally negative. Pew found that half of the public (49 percent) believes homosexual behavior “is morally wrong” while 9 percent say it is morally acceptable and 35 percent say it is “not a moral issue.”

Experts say the ongoing battles over legalizing gay marriage may have contributed to the sense of polarization and anger on the issue.

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Religious
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Organizations that address hate crimes

RELIGIOUS

SECULAR

National sources

Regional sources
Northwest Northeast Northwest West Southwest Midwest South Southeast East

SUPPORTERS OF THE LEGISLATION

OPPONENTS OF THE LEGISLATION

  • Advance USA promotes Judeo-Christian religious values. It is based in Independence, Mo., and maintains a Washington, D.C. office. Contact 202-558-6855.
  • R. Albert Mohler is president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. He has written a blog post describing the hate crimes law as “dangerous” as it would open the door to all manner of gay rights and other claims. Contact mail@albertmohler.com.
  • Shari Rendall is director of legislation and public policy at Concerned Women for America, a Christian advocacy group that works to bring biblical principles into public policy. Contact via Demi Bardsley, 202-266-4820, media@cwfa.org.
  • Brad Dacus is president of the Christian law firm Pacific Justice Institute, which is based in Sacramento, Calif. He has spoken against the proposal. Contact 916-857-6900.
  • James Dobson is the founder of Focus on the Family, based in Colorado Springs, Colo. He has said that the proposed legislation would criminalize Christianity. Contact via Nima Reza, 719-548-4570.
  • Janet Porter is the president and founder of Faith2Action, a Christian advocacy group that works to influence politics and legislation. She wrote a commentary against the bill for World Net Daily. The group is based in Dania Beach, Fla. Contact contact@f2a.org.
  • Andrea Lafferty is executive director of the Traditional Values Coalition, a Christian activist organization based in Washington, D.C., and Anaheim, Calif. She issued a statement opposing the bill. Contact 202-547-8570 (Washington) and 714-520-0300 (Anaheim).
  • Richard Land is president and chief executive officer of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. He has spoken against the bill. Contact via Kerry Bural, 615-782-8419, kbural@erlc.com.
  • Glen Lavy of the Alliance Defense Fund wrote a letter to Congress in 2007 asking lawmakers to vote against the bill. Contact 480-444-0020.
  • Michael Marcavage is the director of Repent America, a Philadelphia-based evangelistic organization that works against homosexuality, abortion and evolution. The group posts a “‘Hate Crimes Packet” on its Web site. Contact via Web site.
  • Tony Perkins is president of the Family Research Council, which promotes Judeo-Christian ethics. The council has spoken against the bill. Contact via Maria Donovan, media coordinator, 202-393-2100.

HATE-CRIMES EXPERTS

  • Gregory M. Herek is a psychologist at the University of California, Davis. He has said that gays and lesbians do not report hate crimes to law enforcement two-thirds of the time, leading to an underreporting of such incidents nationally. Contact 530-752-8085, faculty06@herek.net.
  • Brian Levin is director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism, a nonpartisan research and policy center at California State University, San Bernardino. Levin is also a professor of criminal justice at the university. The center’s Web site includes a number of resources on hate crimes. Contact 909-537-7711, blevin8@aol.com.
  • Rebecca Stotzer is an assistant professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She has studied and written extensively about hate crimes and is the author of a June 2007 report on the topic for the Williams Institute, a think tank at the University of California, Los Angeles, law school that focuses on sexual-orientation law and public policy. Contact 808-956-6121, rstotzer@hawaii.edu.

FIRST AMENDMENT SPECIALISTS

  • Charles C. Haynes is a senior scholar at the First Amendment Center in Arlington, Va. The Washington Post quoted him in April 2009 as saying that the hate crimes legislation would not “in any way infringe on the freedom of people to state their views about homosexuality.” Contact 703-528-0800, Chaynes@freedomforum.org.
  • Mathew D. Staver is founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel, a civil liberties education and legal defense organization based in Orlando, Fla., that specializes in freedom of speech and religious freedom. He is also dean of Liberty University’s law school. Anita Staver, his wife, is president of Liberty Counsel. Contact 800-671-1776, liberty@lc.org.
  • Edward Whelan III is president of the Ethics and Public Policy Center and director of its research program titled The Constitution, The Courts and the Culture. Contact 202-682-1200, ewhelan@eppc.org.

Regional sources

STATE BY STATE

  • Many local police departments have hate-crime units. Check with your local police officials for information.
  • The Human Rights Campaign, a civil rights organization for LGBT people, maintains a state-by-state search page for hate-crimes legislation.
  • The American Civil Liberties Union has affiliate offices in every state.
  • The Anti-Defamation League has a list of regional offices.
  • The Council on American-Islamic Relations maintains several chapters across the nation.
  • The National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs lists local anti-violence programs.

IN THE NORTHEAST

  • Frederick Lawrence is a theology professor at Boston College and the author of Punishing Hate: Bias Crimes Under American Law. Contact 617-552-3885, Frederick.lawrence@bc.edu.
  • Jack Levin and Jack McDevitt are professors at Northeastern University in Boston and co-authors of Hate Crimes Revisited: America’s War on Those Who Are Different. Contact Levin at 617-373-4983, j.levin@neu.edu. Contact McDevitt at 617-373-3482, j.mcdevitt@neu.edu.
  • Kristian Mineau is president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, an organization that promotes marriage as between a man and a woman. The group, based in Woburn, has spoken against the proposed legislation for fear that it would punish speech as a hate crime. Contact 781-569-0400.
  • Stephen Wessler is executive director of the Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence, based in Portland, Maine. Contact 207-780-4756, stevew@preventinghate.org.

IN THE EAST

  • Peggy Campolo is a member of the Association of Welcoming and Affirming Baptists in Wayne, Pa. She spoke in favor of the legislation at a Washington, D.C., rally in 2007 organized by the Human Rights Campaign. Contact via McKinney Associates Speakers Bureau, 1-800-955-4746.
  • Bishop Kwabena Rainey Cheeks is pastor of Inner Light Ministries in Washington, D.C., and a supporter of the legislation. Contact 202-332-7750.
  • Bishop Harry R. Jackson Jr. is pastor of Hope Christian Church in Lanham, Md. He also heads the High Impact Leadership Coalition, which is fighting the legislation. Contact 240-845-0388.
  • James B. Jacobs is director of the Center for Research in Crime and Justice at New York University, where he is also a law professor. He is co-author of Hate Crimes: Criminal Law & Identity Politics. Contact 212- 998-6213, james.jacobs@nyu.edu.

IN THE SOUTHEAST

  • Kimberly Daniels is an evangelical preacher based in Jacksonville, Fla., and founder of Kimberly Daniels Ministries International. She has spoken against the proposed legislation. Contact 904-358-5001.
  • James Davison Hunter is executive director of the Center on Religion and Democracy at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. The center is a nonpartisan research center. Contact 434-243-5511, jdh6c@virginia.edu.
  • The Rev. Erin Swenson is executive director of the Southern Association for Gender Education in Atlanta. A transgender Presbyterian minister, she gave a speech supporting the legislation at an April 17, 2007, rally organized by the Human Rights Campaign. Contact 404-315-1303.
  • The Rev. Elder Nancy Wilson of Sarasota, Fla., is the moderator of Metropolitan Community Churches. She also spoke in favor of the legislation at the April 2007 rally. Contact 941-755-5771, RevNancyWilson@MCCchurch.net.

IN THE SOUTH

  • Linda Dukes Connor is director of the Center for the Study of Law and the Church at Samford University in Birmingham, Ala. Contact 205-726-2409, ldconnor@samford.edu.
  • Bryan K. Fair is a professor at the University of Alabama law school, where his specialties include the First Amendment, and gender and the legal system. Contact 205-886-9156, bfair@law.ua.edu.
  • Timothy Hall is a University of Mississippi law professor whose expertise is in the Establishment and Free Exercise clauses of the First Amendment. Contact 662-915-6847, lwhall@olemiss.edu.
  • Thomas R. McCoy is a professor of law emeritus at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., who specializes in freedom of speech, press and religion, as well as church-state issues. Contact 615-322-2711, thomas.mccoy@vanderbilt.edu.
  • Susan McPherson is a lawyer with Wallace, Jordan, Ratliff & Brandt in Birmingham, Ala., where she specializes, in part, in constitutional law. She is also president of the Birmingham chapter of the Christian Legal Society. Contact 205-870-0555, sm@wallacejordan.com.

IN THE MIDWEST

  • Jeannine Bell is a law professor at Indiana University in Bloomington and the author of Policing Hatred: Law Enforcement, Civil Rights and Hate Crime. Contact 812-856-5013, jeabell@indiana.edu.
  • Ken Blackwell is a former candidate for governor of Ohio. He has written critically about the proposed legislation.
  • The Rev. Charles Bouchard is a Catholic priest who gave a speech in favor of the bill at an April 17, 2007, rally organized by the Human Rights Campaign. He is a past president of the Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis. Contact through the institute, 314-256-8886.
  • Craig Mousin is director of the Center for Church-State Studies at DePaul University law school in Chicago. The nondenominational center promotes debate and discussion about the First Amendment and the Establishment Clause. Contact 312-362-8707, cmousin@depaul.edu.
  • Marvin Winans is pastor of Perfecting Church in Detroit and was part of a group of African-American pastors who met with U.S. Rep. John Conyers to lobby against the bill. Contact 313-365-3787.

IN THE SOUTHWEST

  • Christopher Marsh is director of the J.M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. The institute works to advance religious liberty in the United States and around the world. Marsh’s research interests include religion and violence. Contact 254-710-6058, Chris_Marsh@baylor.edu.
  • Miguel De La Torre is an associate professor of social ethics at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver. He spoke in favor of the legislation at an April 17, 2007, rally in Washington, D.C., organized by the Human Rights Campaign. Contact 303-765-3133.
  • Bishop Carlton Pearson is senior pastor of New Dimensions Worship Center in Tulsa, Okla., a Pentecostal Christian church. He also spoke in favor of the legislation at the April rally. Contact 918-392-9982.

IN THE WEST/NORTHWEST

  • Alan E. Brownstein teaches law at the University of California, Davis. He specializes in constitutional law. He has given testimony before legislatures and courts on church-state issues. Contact 530-752-2586 or 530-752-0243, aebrownstein@ucdavis.edu.
  • Denise Eger is the rabbi of Congregation Kol Ami in West Hollywood, Calif. She spoke in favor of the 2007 hate crimes legislation at an April 17, 2007, rally in Washington, D.C., organized by the Human Rights Campaign. Contact 323-606-0996 ext. 101, rabbi@kol-ami.org.
  • Valerie Jenness is a professor of criminology, law and society at the University of California, Irvine. She is the co-author of two books on hate crimes, including Making Hate a Crime: From Social Movement to Law Enforcement. Contact 949-824-1437, jenness@uci.edu.
  • Edward Tabash is a civil rights attorney and chairman of the national legal committee for Americans United for Separation of Church and State. He is also honorary chairman of the Center for Inquiry West and chairman of the First Amendment Task Force of the Council for Secular Humanism. He lives in Los Angeles. Contact via his Web site.

Photo source: Barack Obama photos on Flickr


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