Tuesday, January 16, 2007

HR254: Enhancement of Federal Enforcement of Hate Crimes

It came to my attention that the House Judiciary Committee has begun consideration of Rep Lee's bill, H.R.254, that seeks to establish a new federal offense for hate crimes and would mandate a separate federal criminal prosecution for state offenses tried under its provisions that includes a sentence of life imprisonment.

I oppose ambiguous "hate-crime" laws because they do not provide equal protection of all Americans as the U.S. Constitution demands. Law-enforcement should instead focus on punishing crimes and criminal behavior, not thoughts.

Criminal laws already on the books are not being enforced. Creating new laws will do nothing but make a bad situation worse.

Victims of violence can best be served by the justice system enforcing existing laws and returning to a focus on delivering justice for the victims instead of leniency on the criminals.

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