From Deseret News archives:
Hate-crimes bill gets a lobbyist
The bill that would add enhanced penalties to crimes based on hate will be sponsored by Sens. Karen Hale, D-Salt Lake, and Greg Bell, R-Fruit Heights.
"We are taking a little bit of a different approach," said Rep. David Litvack, D-Salt Lake, who is the bill's House sponsor for the fifth year, though it's been before lawmakers for nine years. The Senate bill is identical to Litvack's HB50.
Litvack said this is the first year the effort has a paid lobbyist, and Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. on Friday told reporters, "I'm open to it."
Public opinion is behind the bill, according to a recent Deseret Morning News/KSL-TV poll, which indicated 64 percent support stronger hate-crime laws.
The bill even brought Texas resident Louvon Byrd Harris, sister of James L. Byrd, a man brutally killed because of his race, to Utah legislators Friday, with hopes her family's story will encourage representatives to pass the bill.
Following her visit with lawmakers, Harris met with community groups that support the bill at a Utah Black Leadership Foundation event Friday evening.
However, the bill has faced consistent opposition by lawmakers who oppose creating special protected classes. Law enforcement officers have said the bill is virtually unenforceable because it has no defined classes.
The bill would increase by one step the penalty for any crime based on "bias or prejudice" based on attributes that include but are not limited to race, color, disability, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, age or gender.
For example, a class A misdemeanor would become a third-degree felony.
The list is based on classifications already in laws that have been upheld before the U.S. Supreme Court. However, it seems opposition to the bill has revolved around that list.
Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan, said he opposes the measure because it gives special rights to certain groups.
"Anybody that viciously attacks someone else, you have to call it a hate crime," he said. "How are you going to define a hate crime?"
Bell said he supports hate crimes because when someone is "a victim because he or she is a Jew or a Mormon or black or whatever . . . the perpetrator is assaulting the class. The true hate crime is not done against the person, it's done against the class."
Lobbyist Dave Spatafore of Capstone Strategies is representing Utahns Together Against Hate, which supports pursuing enhanced penalties for hate crimes.
"The time has come we really need to put a face on hate crimes in the state of Utah and become more protective of our community," he said. In all, Spatafore said, 44 states have enforceable hate-crimes statutes.
Comments
- Today on TV 12:49 a.m.
- Wanted: Bank robber with bad breath 12:40 a.m.
- Philippine police clash with clan 12:28 a.m.
- Officer responding to call killed 12:28 a.m.
- Editorial: Fine-tune state workweek 12:18 a.m.
- Let's keep energy money in the U.S. 12:18 a.m.
- How to pay for the war 12:17 a.m.
- Feast of Guadalupe nourishes soul 12:17 a.m.
- Obama's strategy is a road map 12:17 a.m.
- Letters: 'Political priestcraft' 12:17 a.m.
- BYU and Utah's bowl games
- BYU professor remembered
- Y., U. to learn bowl destinations
- The forgotten ship: USS Utah
- Cougars going back to Vegas
- Branch president without a congregation
- TCU to play Boise in Fiesta Bowl
- Utahns want health care reform bills
- Kurt Bestor: Joy for the world
- Urn of baby rests with sailors
- Letters: Liberal because LDS
257 - Y. profs: Beck not all-knowing
215 - Hate not limited to 1 in-state rivalry
189 - Aggies shoot past Cougars
179 - N.Y. Senate rejects gay marriage
130 - TCU to play Boise in Fiesta Bowl
113 - George lost in rivalry hatefest
113 - Ed Smart 'appalled' at testimony
97 - Harpring's NBA career is over
95 - Sloan gets 1-year extension
80
First, a big thank you to all who posted questions here for me to ask...
Sen. Scott Jenkins was name-checked by Jay Leno Monday night during his...
Personally I don't believe in God, but respect those who do. I believe that...
Want to rad what is happening today, just go back and read Helaman and the...
To me the Book of Mormon is a dull, derivative tale, as Mark Twain and others...
His road maps have proven to have twists and turns that no one could drive on...
A little pricey, but good. I took my wife there for our 40th Anniversary....
Before you complain about tranist riders having subsidized fares, lets start...
Loren, it looks like you're taking bits and pieces of information and making...
Didn't Jesus observe the Jewish holidays? He would have been making...
Did you know that TRAX carries 40% of UTA's riders... and does so with only...
Thank you for a great article. I'm a BYU grad and U faculty member, and this...



You can be the first to comment on this story.