Matthew Shepard Act

The Matthew Shepard Act was named after Matthew Shepard, a homosexual University of Wyoming student beaten to death in 1998. Technically a rider to a defense appropriations bill, the act would lower the threshold for victims to prove a crime was motivated by bias.

The Washington Times said:

The amendment ... charges the Justice Department with investigating crimes potentially motivated by sexual orientation as it can for crimes considered racially or religiously motivated.^[1]

Although Shepard's killers each were given double life sentences and have since told ABC news that money and drugs motivated their actions, not hatred of homosexuals, homosexual rights activists insisted on using the incident to garner sympathy for anti-gay-bashing laws.

Text of amendment[edit]

SEC. 1070. HATE CRIMES.

(a) Short Title.--This section may be cited as the "Matthew Shepard Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007.

(b) Findings.--Congress makes the following findings:

(1) The incidence of violence motivated by the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability of the victim poses a serious national problem.

(2) Such violence disrupts the tranquility and safety of communities and is deeply divisive.

(3) State and local authorities are now and will continue to be responsible for prosecuting the overwhelming majority of violent crimes in the United States, including violent crimes motivated by bias. These authorities can carry out their responsibilities more effectively with greater Federal assistance.

(4) Existing Federal law is inadequate to address this problem.

(5) A prominent characteristic of a violent crime motivated by bias is that it devastates not just the actual victim and the family and friends of the victim, but frequently savages the community sharing the traits that caused the victim to be selected.

(6) Such violence substantially affects interstate commerce in many ways, including the following:

(A) The movement of members of targeted groups is impeded, and members of such groups are forced to move across State lines to escape the incidence or risk of such violence.

(B) Members of targeted groups are prevented from purchasing goods and services, obtaining or sustaining employment, or participating in other commercial activity.

(C) Perpetrators cross State lines to commit such violence.

(D) Channels, facilities, and instrumentalities of interstate commerce are used to facilitate the commission of such violence.

(E) Such violence is committed using articles that have traveled in interstate commerce.

(7) For generations, the institutions of slavery and involuntary servitude were defined by the race, color, and ancestry of those held in bondage. Slavery and involuntary servitude were enforced, both prior to and after the adoption of the 13th amendment to the Constitution of the United States, through widespread public and private violence directed at persons because of their race, color, or ancestry, or perceived race, color, or ancestry. Accordingly, eliminating racially motivated violence

is an important means of eliminating, to the extent possible, the badges, incidents, and relics of slavery and involuntary servitude.

(8) Both at the time when the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments to the Constitution of the United States were adopted, and continuing to date, members of certain religious and national origin groups were and are perceived to be distinct ``races. Thus, in order to eliminate, to the extent possible, the badges, incidents, and relics of slavery, it is necessary to prohibit assaults on the basis of real or perceived religions or national origins, at least to the extent such religions or national

origins were regarded as races at the time of the adoption of the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments to the Constitution of the United States.

(9) Federal jurisdiction over certain violent crimes motivated by bias enables Federal, State, and local authorities to work together as partners in the investigation and prosecution of such crimes.

(10) The problem of crimes motivated by bias is sufficiently serious, widespread, and interstate in nature as to warrant Federal assistance to States, local jurisdictions, and Indian tribes.

(c) Definition of Hate Crime.--In this section--

(1) the term ``crime of violence has the meaning given that term in section 16, title 18, United States Code;

(2) the term ``hate crime has the meaning given such term in section 280003(a) of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (28 U.S.C. 994 note); and

(3) the term ``local means a county, city, town, township, parish, village, or other general purpose political subdivision of a State.

(d) Support for Criminal Investigations and Prosecutions by State, Local, and Tribal Law Enforcement Officials.--

(1) ASSISTANCE OTHER THAN FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE.--

(A) IN GENERAL.--At the request of State, local, or Tribal law enforcement agency, the Attorney General may provide technical, forensic, prosecutorial, or any other form of assistance in the criminal investigation or prosecution of any crime that--

(i) constitutes a crime of violence;

(ii) constitutes a felony under the State, local, or Tribal laws; and

(iii) is motivated by prejudice based on the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability of the victim, or is a violation of the State, local, or Tribal hate crime laws.

(B) PRIORITY.--In providing assistance under subparagraph (A), the Attorney General shall give priority to crimes committed by offenders who have committed crimes in more than one State and to rural jurisdictions that have difficulty covering the extraordinary expenses relating to the investigation or prosecution of the crime.

(2) GRANTS.--

(A) IN GENERAL.--The Attorney General may award grants to State, local, and Indian law enforcement agencies for extraordinary expenses associated with the investigation and prosecution of hate crimes.

(B) OFFICE OF JUSTICE PROGRAMS.--In implementing the grant program under this paragraph, the Office of Justice Programs shall work closely with grantees to ensure that the concerns and needs of all affected parties, including community groups and schools, colleges, and universities, are addressed through the local infrastructure developed under the grants.

(C) APPLICATION.--

(i) IN GENERAL.--Each State, local, and Indian law enforcement agency that desires a grant under this paragraph shall submit an application to the Attorney General at such time, in such manner, and accompanied by or containing such information as the Attorney General shall reasonably require.

(ii) DATE FOR SUBMISSION.--Applications submitted pursuant to clause (i) shall be submitted during the 60-day period beginning on a date that the Attorney General shall prescribe.

(iii) REQUIREMENTS.--A State, local, and Indian law enforcement agency applying for a grant under this paragraph shall--

(I) describe the extraordinary purposes for which the grant is needed;

(II) certify that the State, local government, or Indian tribe lacks the resources necessary to investigate or prosecute the hate crime;

(III) demonstrate that, in developing a plan to implement the grant, the State, local, and Indian law enforcement agency has consulted and coordinated with nonprofit, nongovernmental victim services programs that have experience in providing services to victims of hate crimes; and

(IV) certify that any Federal funds received under this paragraph will be used to supplement, not supplant, non-Federal funds that would otherwise be available for activities funded under this paragraph.

(D) DEADLINE.--An application for a grant under this paragraph shall be approved or denied by the Attorney General not later than 30 business days after the date on which the Attorney General receives the application.

(E) GRANT AMOUNT.--A grant under this paragraph shall not exceed $100,000 for any single jurisdiction in any 1-year period.

(F) REPORT.--Not later than December 31, 2008, the Attorney General shall submit to Congress a report describing the applications submitted for grants under this paragraph, the award of such grants, and the purposes for which the grant amounts were expended.

(G) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.--There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this paragraph $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 and 2009.

(e) Grant Program.--

(1) AUTHORITY TO AWARD GRANTS.--The Office of Justice Programs of the Department of Justice may award grants, in accordance with such regulations as the Attorney General may prescribe, to State, local, or Tribal programs designed to combat hate crimes committed by juveniles, including programs to train local law enforcement officers in identifying, investigating, prosecuting, and preventing hate crimes.

(2) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.--There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this subsection.

(f) Authorization for Additional Personnel to Assist State, Local, and Tribal Law Enforcement.--There are authorized to be appropriated to the Department of the Treasury and the Department of Justice, including the Community Relations Service, for fiscal years 2008, 2009, and 2010 such sums as are necessary to increase the number of personnel to prevent and respond to alleged violations of section 249 of title 18, United States Code, as added by this section.

(g) Prohibition of Certain Hate Crime Acts.--

(1) IN GENERAL.--Chapter 13 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:``§249. Hate crime acts

``(a) In General.--

``(1) OFFENSES INVOLVING ACTUAL OR PERCEIVED RACE, COLOR, RELIGION, OR NATIONAL ORIGIN.--Whoever, whether or not acting under color of law, willfully causes bodily injury to any person or, through the use of fire, a firearm, or an explosive or incendiary device, attempts to cause bodily injury to any person, because of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, or national origin of any person--

``(A) shall be imprisoned not more than 10 years, fined in accordance with this title, or both; and

``(B) shall be imprisoned for any term of years or for life, fined in accordance with this title, or both, if--

``(i) death results from the offense; or

``(ii) the offense includes kidnaping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill.

``(2) OFFENSES INVOLVING ACTUAL OR PERCEIVED RELIGION, NATIONAL ORIGIN, GENDER, SEXUAL ORIENTATION, GENDER IDENTITY, OR DISABILITY.--

``(A) IN GENERAL.--Whoever, whether or not acting under color of law, in any circumstance described in subparagraph (B), willfully causes bodily injury to any person or, through the use of fire, a firearm, or an explosive or incendiary device, attempts to cause bodily injury to any person, because of the actual or perceived religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability of any person--

``(i) shall be imprisoned not more than 10 years, fined in accordance with this title, or both; and

``(ii) shall be imprisoned for any term of years or for life, fined in accordance with this title, or both, if--

``(I) death results from the offense; or

``(II) the offense includes kidnaping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill.

``(B) CIRCUMSTANCES DESCRIBED.--For purposes of subparagraph (A), the circumstances described in this subparagraph are that--

``(i) the conduct described in subparagraph (A) occurs during the course of, or as the result of, the travel of the defendant or the victim--

``(I) across a State line or national border; or

``(II) using a channel, facility, or instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce;

``(ii) the defendant uses a channel, facility, or instrumentality of interstate or foreign commerce in connection with the conduct described in subparagraph (A);

``(iii) in connection with the conduct described in subparagraph (A), the defendant employs a firearm, explosive or incendiary device, or other weapon that has traveled in interstate or foreign commerce; or

``(iv) the conduct described in subparagraph (A)--

``(I) interferes with commercial or other economic activity in which the victim is engaged at the time of the conduct; or

``(II) otherwise affects interstate or foreign commerce.

``(b) Certification Requirement.--No prosecution of any offense described in this subsection may be undertaken by the United States, except under the certification in writing of the Attorney General, the Deputy Attorney General, the Associate Attorney General, or any Assistant Attorney General specially designated by the Attorney General that--

``(1) such certifying individual has reasonable cause to believe that the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability of any person was a motivating factor underlying the alleged conduct of the defendant; and

``(2) such certifying individual has consulted with State or local law enforcement officials regarding the prosecution and determined that--

``(A) the State does not have jurisdiction or does not intend to exercise jurisdiction;

``(B) the State has requested that the Federal Government assume jurisdiction;

``(C) the State does not object to the Federal Government assuming jurisdiction; or

``(D) the verdict or sentence obtained pursuant to State charges left demonstratively unvindicated the Federal interest in eradicating bias-motivated violence.

``(c) Definitions.--In this section--

``(1) the term `explosive or incendiary device' has the meaning given such term in section 232 of this title;

``(2) the term `firearm' has the meaning given such term in section 921(a) of this title; and

``(3) the term `gender identity' for the purposes of this chapter means actual or perceived gender-related characteristics.

``(d) Rule of Evidence.--In a prosecution for an offense under this section, evidence of expression or associations of the defendant may not be introduced as substantive evidence at trial, unless the evidence specifically relates to that offense. However, nothing in this section affects the rules of evidence governing impeachment of a witness..

(2) TECHNICAL AND CONFORMING AMENDMENT.--The analysis for chapter 13 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

``249..Hate crime acts..

(h) Statistics.--

(1) IN GENERAL.--Subsection (b)(1) of the first section of the Hate Crime Statistics Act (28 U.S.C. 534 note) is amended by inserting ``gender and gender identity, after ``race,.

(2) DATA.--Subsection (b)(5) of the first section of the Hate Crime Statistics Act (28 U.S.C. 534 note) is amended by inserting ``, including data about crimes committed by, and crimes directed against, juveniles after ``data acquired under this section.

(i) Severability.--If any provision of this section, an amendment made by this section, or the application of such provision or amendment to any person or circumstance is held to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this section, the amendments made by this section, and the application of the provisions of such to any person or circumstance shall not be affected thereby.

(As printed in the Congressional Record for the Senate on Jul 11, 2007.)

References[edit]

1. ↑ Gay protection tacked onto defense bill