Tougher hate-crimes law taking shape

The senator and the representative have a deal.

Or a compromise. Whatever you term it, on Friday, Rep. David Litvack, D-Salt Lake City, and Sen. James Evans, R-Rose Park, reached an agreement on changes to legislation that may give Utah a tougher hate-crimes law.

Perpetually on different sides of the argument, the two lawmakers began working on a combined approach about two weeks ago after a public debate of the issue.

They've opted for a re-working of Litvack's HB68, which still seeks penalty enhancements for those who commit crimes based on their biases. But instead of defining the "target" groups included under the bill, it focuses on the definition of "bias and prejudice."

"What we've done in the past is said, 'Don't target someone based on their group' and then defined group," said Litvack, who is making his fourth attempt at getting a hate-crimes bill into law. "It became very difficult to work with this notion of not excluding anyone when you are defining a group."

In the new draft, the reference to groups is included in the definition of "bias and prejudice," which reads:

" . . . intentionally selecting the victim based on, but not limited to, the perceived or actual attributes of race, color, disability, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, age or gender."

The key phrase "but not limited to" addresses Evans' concern that hate-crimes law are discriminatory and exclusionary because they traditionally include group classifications.

"It's clear that no one is excluded," said Evans of the current draft.

The bill is expected to be assigned to a House committee next week, Litvack said.

Last year, Litvack and co-sponsor Rep. James Ferrin, R-Orem, passed the bill in the House by a narrow three votes. They later pulled the bill after it was called back for reconsideration. Ferrin has not signed on as co-sponsor this year but said he will support Litvack and vote for the bill.

The late Sen. Pete Suazo got a watered-down version of an earlier hate-crimes bill past the Senate some years ago, but that bill was never considered by the House.

Evans won't carry Litvack's bill if and when it gets to the Senate.

"It's kind of hard to say until we see what happens in the House," he said. "Different people have opposed this bill for different reasons, but they've addressed my concerns."

Utah's Statewide Association of Prosecutors had not taken a position on either Litvack's or Evans' bills. But on Friday, SWAP's executive director Paul Boyden said that at first glance, the new HB68 appears to be a more effective tool for Utah prosecutors, who have complained the existing law is unenforceable and overly broad.

HB68 is different from existing law in that it is a true hate-crimes statute, Boyden said. The current law requires prosecutors to prove that a victim's civil rights have been violated.

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E-mail: jdobner@desnews.com