Advocacy Alert

Hate Crimes Bill Up for Vote in Senate

Dear SPSSI members,

The Senate has taken up the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 as an amendment to the Department of Defense Authorization Act for FY2010.  Voting on this legislation, which has already cleared the House, could be imminent. 

The bill, which would provide new law enforcement resources and federal protections for victims targeted due to their gender, sexual orientation, or disability (all to become newly recognized classifications), was originally introduced by Senator Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts back in April.  The Senate version would also provide the federal government with jurisdiction to prosecute hate crimes in instances when state and local jurisdictions are unwilling to do so.  If you wish to take action in support of the amendment, please visit congress.org, enter your zip code in order to locate the contact information for your senators, and ask them to support the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act.  

Sincerely,

Christopher Woodside, SPSSI Policy Coordinator