Hate-crimes bill wins panel's approval

The state Sentencing Commission voted unanimously Wednesday to support Rep. David Litvack in his fifth bid to get a hate-crimes bill passed by the Utah Legislature.

Litvack, D-Salt Lake, who was re-elected to his District 26 seat Tuesday, said a draft of the bill is in process but is essentially the same bill he carried during the 2004 session, including compromise language crafted with Sen. James Evans, R-Salt Lake.

In addressing the commission, Litvack noted that in Salt Lake City Monday night, a Jewish family living on Capitol Hill was victimized by someone who spray-painted a swastika on the door of their car.

"I can't tell you what an impact that has had on me, as a person who is also Jewish, and I don't even know (the victim)," he said. "It just has a ripple effect. You all understand that."

Historically, the commission has supported hate crimes bills, even researching and helping to write the one carried by the late Sen. Pete Suazo in 2000.

State Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, a Republican who was re-elected Tuesday, will again support the bill, despite the objections of others from his party, Deputy Attorney General Kirk Torgensen said at the meeting.

Mike Sibbett, chairman of the state Board of Pardons and Parole, said it is clear from the convicted criminals the board sees that those who commit crimes of bias are more violent by far than offenders who commit crimes for other reasons.

Under Litvack's bill, those convicted of bias crimes would have their sentences increased by one step. Torgensen said prosecutors would like to have that option because hate crimes are message crimes that affect a wider swath of society.

Prosecutors across the state do not use Utah's existing law because it requires proving that a person's civil rights have been violated, said Paul Boyden, executive director of the Statewide Association of Prosecutors.

Boyden also said he believes that the passage of Amendment 3, which amends Utah's constitution to define marriage and effectively outlaw gay marriage, may actually help get a hate crimes bill passed.

Opponents of the bill have long said that the inclusion of "sexual orientation" in the bill's list of group classifications was part of a "gay agenda" and might open the door to special rights or protections in law for homosexuals. Litvack said that in 2001, when he first carried the bill, he was told privately that it would pass easily if he removed "sexual orientation" from the list.