A member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights says the federal hate crimes" bill pending in the Senate "will do little good and a great deal of harm."
University of San Diego law professor Gail Heriot testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday that the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act, or S. 909, has special problems of overreach, with implications for federalism and double jeopardy protections. Those problems, she argued, should prompt even proponents of state hate crimes statutes to question the desirability for a federal statute. "Why, for example, should Matthew Shepard's killers be treated differently from Jeffrey Dahmer or Ted Kaczynski? Hate crimes are surely horrible, but there are other horrible crimes as well," she contends. "What happens if hate crimes statutes aren't enforced even-handedly? Some crime statistics show that an African-American is more likely to commit a racially inspired murder of a white man or white woman than the other way around. Should all be punished as hate crimes -- or just those that fit the skinhead stereotype?" Heriot said the bill's most important effect will be to allow federal authorities to re-prosecute a broad category of defendants who have been acquitted by state juries. She noted framers of the Bill of Rights never dreamed that federal criminal jurisdiction would be expanded to the point where such a large number of crimes are now considered both state and federal offenses. A hate crime against America (related commentary)
University of San Diego law professor Gail Heriot testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday that the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act, or S. 909, has special problems of overreach, with implications for federalism and double jeopardy protections. Those problems, she argued, should prompt even proponents of state hate crimes statutes to question the desirability for a federal statute.
"Why, for example, should Matthew Shepard's killers be treated differently from Jeffrey Dahmer or Ted Kaczynski? Hate crimes are surely horrible, but there are other horrible crimes as well," she contends. "What happens if hate crimes statutes aren't enforced even-handedly? Some crime statistics show that an African-American is more likely to commit a racially inspired murder of a white man or white woman than the other way around. Should all be punished as hate crimes -- or just those that fit the skinhead stereotype?" Heriot said the bill's most important effect will be to allow federal authorities to re-prosecute a broad category of defendants who have been acquitted by state juries. She noted framers of the Bill of Rights never dreamed that federal criminal jurisdiction would be expanded to the point where such a large number of crimes are now considered both state and federal offenses.
A hate crime against America (related commentary)
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