U.S. Congress - S.909 Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act
S.909 - Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act
A bill to provide Federal assistance to States, local jurisdictions, and Indian tribes to prosecute hate crimes, and for other purposes. view all titles (3)
All Bill Titles
- Official: A bill to provide Federal assistance to States, local jurisdictions, and Indian tribes to prosecute hate crimes, and for other purposes. as introduced.
- Popular: Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act as introduced.
- Short: Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act as introduced.
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Displaying 91-120 of 457 total comments.
I don’t care one way or another about your sexual orientation. Don’t lecture me or others who went to the polls and overwhelmingly voted in California with regards to the definition of marriage. Pick a new word, coin a phrase but leave marriage alone. This wasn’t just a simple majority it was over 80%. You didn’t see heterosexuals rioting, using hateful speech and abhorable language (Miss USA debacle) over an opinion. It seems it’s only OK when those who have “special orientations” have an opinion. Enough is enough.
Reference the Matthew Shephard Act – As a University of Wyoming graduate, born in Boulder, CO, so forget the Redneck stuff. I worked with quite a number of business people and legal professionals (including a former City Attorney, Public Defender and local law enforcement personnel). This case was tried in the National media as a political case. There was documented evidence that this tragedy was not predominantly about being homosexual. There were some substantiated issues relative to a drug deal that went badly and the result was a terrible loss of life. But as someone once said…Don’t let a Crisis or Terrible situation go to waste. I think those two should have gotten the death sentence as did a lot of legal people. But why the misdirection and fabrications? Go take the time to read all the transcripts and reports, you may find a different picture.
Where do you get the idea that churches will not be prosecuted for calling homosexuality and other abnormal sexual lifestyles a sin as prescribed in the Bible. Canada passed a measure known as AKP333 which limited the people from speaking out against sexual orientations. Pastors in Canada were silenced and many prosecuted for preaching against sin as churches have done for thousands of years.
Please replay (My Church and our 279 sister churches are not listed in your coalition partners.)
I really wish people would sit down, slow down and read this bill with out listening to someone spewing hate and dis-information. I’ve heard so much BS about what this bill will do and the only thing it appears to be doing it providing the states with additional funds.
It neither curtails the Freedom of Speach or Relgious observace. You can still be a hater and burn your crosses if this bill passes. And if you are a ‘Christian’ then you aren’t hating or hurting anyone to get in trouble over.
Gene9223
Do you work in legislation?
There is no need for this legislation. And, who defines what is a “hate” crime? Is that not in itself a type of religion? We already have protection under our Constitution for everyone in our country.
This law is wrong. A crime should be a crime. Is OK to kill someone if you really like them? No. So it should not be more of a crime to kill someone if you don’t like them.
I also object to the constant assertion that everything in the world somehow affect interstate commerce and therefore can be regulated by Congress under the Interstate Commerce Clause.
The majority of this bill is senseless. Even the name of the bill is a farce. An investigation proved Matthew Shepard was a gay man who was a victim of a robbery. His death however tragic was not linked to any hate crime. Yet he has a hate crime bill named after him.
Now moving on to the bill itself, criminals are already prosecuted to the full extent of the law without this bill. Whether or not a person is gay, if you commit a violent crime against that person, the legislation already exists to punish you to the full extent of the law. What does this bill accomplish that is not already being done?
So where’s the epidemic of hate crimes that so desperately deserves a bill that creates special rules for you because you’re gay? Please tell me why your sexual orientation should entitle you to more or better than any other American. When something makes as little sense as this bill does, it normally indicates a hidden agenda of some kind exists.
Actually the bill does not suggest better or more privilages, it provides the same privilages as the other classes. I suspect you belong to one of the other; you have a religious affilliation, or you belong to a certain race, or you are of a specific gender, etc. So I suspect that you are covered should these be a basis of a crime against you. And I suspect that you would be happy if the prosecuter would charge someone who prosecuted violence against you, with a charge based in this law. Don’t look for more than what is there.
Hate crimes against gays are up and regardless of the statistics, if you are a victim or a family member of a victim it is no less.
Then prosecute said crimes using the laws we already have, which apply to EVERYONE. There is no need for more legislation, and more spending of taxpayer money when we already have “protection” for everyone.
There we go again RuthAnn, someone puts up real accurate statistics and you change your tack. Stop attacking Christians, Mormans, Hindu’s or others of some faith and stick to the real issue of more government intrustion where there just does not need to be any.
So now we re-define hate…so we can say “Crimes are Up”…if this was a formal debate you would be embarassed!
Shawnyboy69 hit the nail right on the head with his last 4 posts. I vote a big fat NAY on this bill.
Finally, I would agree with you; in a perfect world there would be no reason to clarify who is protected, everyone would have equal rights and crimes would be equally prosecuted. I just am not that nieve. I for one have lived in the south and was told to get rid of my “yankee” plates unless I wanted to receive numerous traffic citations. So much for equal prosecution of the law. Its the world we live in.
According to another poster in favor of the bill earlier, if you weren’t breaking the law you have nothing to worry about!
I want to thank everyone for their insights. I have learned from all of you and wish you all well.
A hate crime is when a person is targeted because they offend someone by their very existence. Traditionally that’s been Blacks and Jews, but now days its frowned upon by general (Hetro-WASP-GOP) society to hate them. Those that hate seem to need something to hate and have turned to hating the fringe elements in our society. GLBT types, immigrants, people that are not ‘christian’. (to me it mirrors the KKK and Nazi’s stance way too much for my comfort level)
Typically a Hate Crime is punctuated by violent act(s) that is/are extreme. Think shaving off someone’s face off or splashing their face with acid, or chopping off fingers one joint at a time, hanging them upside down and being treated like a piñata, being doused with gasoline and lit on fire or dragged for miles behind a pickup truck.
From my experience, the only people that are afraid of hate crime legislation are those who may serve additional time in prison from committing a hate crime.
Folks, my comments were deleted from this site. I am re-posting them, as the quiet deletion of them only proves they were right on target:
“The problem with this bill is that a state-mandated framework for eventually persecuting Christians is being silently put in place. If you do not begin to actively stand up now, your pastor, who recites the Holy Bible, and you, who listens to it and believes in it, will possibly end up in jail for inciting “hate”.
Notice the abstract nature of this word – “hate”. Sounds like someone really hates Christians – with real hate – and wants us persecuted, just like during the times of the Soviet Union or the ten persecutions of the Roman Empire.
Wake up now!!!"
Anton, you need to recheck your statement. Your comment wasn’t removed, it was just graded below a ‘5’. If you look to the upper right corner to the ‘Rating Filter’ and reset it to ‘0’ you’ll see your very first post.
Evedently, some disagree with you and marked you comments as less than a ‘5’.
If this bill passes, what one single step will remain before state-mandated persecution of Christians is a reality? A follow-up bill stating that not only “physical violence” against a “protected group”, but even “verbal violence” (i.e., verbal censure of such a group) constitutes a hate crime.
After that, the New Testament can be banned as a “hate book”. Do you not see? We are entering dangerous times.
And Anton,
if you read the entire bill, under Section 10, Paragraphs 3 and 4 it does outline that you can still say anything you want.
So don’t worry, you CAN still be as bigoted as you wanna be.
You can still hate freely, burn crosses, wear sheets over your head, heil hitler and scream ‘I hate faggots’.
It’s a free country still. You can scream from your pulpit, your front lawn or the street corner. Just don’t harm/hurt anyone when you do it.
I am simply amazed that we as a nation allow a bunch of mentally ill sexual deviants raise their voice against the sacred teachings of our Faith.
Let me qualify this statement.
Agressive homosexuality is an enemy of Christ, Christianity, Christians everywhere the world over. My last comment was directed against displays of such agressive homosexuality – a perversion that seeks to corrupt our children so they become victims of this thoroughly evil way of life.
On the other hand, if a homosexual wants to right himself, then it is a noble struggle against an evil that could destroy him. Such a person must have our compassion.
I apologize for a very emotional response of the previous post. I still cannot get how some people can so twist the truth of what morality and immorality is, it sometimes gets the better of me.
“You can still hate freely, burn crosses, wear sheets over your head, heil hitler and scream ‘I hate faggots’. "
I am afraid you are mixing incompatible things. No one would burn crosses. No one would heil hitler.
I am simply becoming afraid of the agressive posture of anti-Christian rhetoric in this country. Enemies of Christ and mankind are raising their head. Shall we tolerate it, or shall we resist it?
We need this law in our country because currently, gay and lesbian people continue to be targeted by homophobic people, who disregard the law. It’s important to pass this bill because then there will be greater deterrants against homophobia-based violence. We must strive towards greater equality in this world, and this bill will help us to move in that direction.
This is an example of the dangerous talk we should resist. While some people may genuinely be deluded into thinking that agressive, organized homosexuality is not our enemy, the majority of us surely understand that it is!!!
This law will result in this agressive, organized homosexuality acting with impunity to penetrate schools and other public venues to try to force their evil lifestyle upon our children and corrupt America’s youth.
Um… ‘organized’ homosexuals… is that like unionized gays? Like the AFL-CIO? …does it come with full medical and dental? What’s the benefit package? If I join, can I get a pay raise?
Oh yes I Love this argument. Is it your contention that the homosexuals do not target non homo’s with different viewpoints for violence? Are you not paying attention? Does one class of people deserve more rights to speak than another? We are already seeing speech being stifled and this will only continue that sorry slide. We are empowering the government statist in places it was never intended. This is not an anti homo or pro religion thing. This is a freedom thing. We have all got to stop giving the Government powers over our everyday lives and especially our thoughts.