New push for hate-crimes bill

To help make his case in 2005, Litvack will have the support of UTAH, or Utahns Together Against Hate, a new coalition of individuals and groups in support of hate crimes legislation.

UTAH hopes to broaden the existing support for the issue into other sectors of the community that hold diversity and civil and human rights protections as core principles, UTAH's paid lobbyist David Spatafore said.

"A lot of Utah businesses have diversity policies that are proactive, and a lot of national companies with a strong presence in Utah have strong diversity and human rights policies," Spatafore said, citing examples. "We're going to work on that and with law enforcement. We want to build on what has happened in the past around passing enhanced penalties for crimes of bias."

Past objections by some state lawmakers to the inclusion of "sexual orientation" in the classifications will remain a challenge, but Spatafore hopes to changes some minds.

"In Utah more hate crimes are committed against people for their ethnicity and religion and other reasons than for sexual orientation," he said. "This is a public safety issue and a human rights issue."

Recent conversations with other lawmakers and community members seem to indicate more support for the measure in 2005, Litvack said.

"Even those that have been traditionally opposed to the legislation are sending new signals this year that this may be the time," he said, declining to say specifically with whom he has conversed. "I think it's building off what we've already accomplished. People are starting to understand the issue."

They will be also aided by a Georgia Supreme Court ruling last week, which struck down that states law as unconstitutional, Spatafore said. Some in the Utah state House had looked to the Georgia bill as a model for a new Utah law.

Baird said he hopes the new approach will be successful.

"Hate crimes of any kind are not to be tolerated," he said.

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