Hate Crimes Bill Signed Into Law 11 Years After Matthew Shepard's Death

President Obama signed major civil rights legislation on Wednesday, making it a federal hate crime to assault people based on sexual orientation, gender and gender identity. The new measure expands the the scope of a 1968 law that applies to people attacked because of their race, religion or national origin. The U.S. Justice Department will have expanded authority to prosecute such crimes when local authorities don't.

The provision, called the Matthew Shepard & James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act is attached to a defense authorization bill. It is named after Matthew Shepard, a gay college student tortured and killed in 1998, and James Byrd Jr., a black man who was chained to a pickup truck and dragged to his death the same year.

The measure expands current hate crimes law to include violence based on gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. To assure its passage after years of frustrated efforts, Democratic supporters attached the measure to the must-pass defense policy bill over the steep objections of many Republicans.

The measure was a priority of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., that had been on the congressional agenda for a decade. During the signing ceremony, Obama acknowledged Shepard's mom, Judy, and remembered that he had told her this day would come. He also gave a nod to Kennedy's family. Going forward, Obama promised, people will be protected from violence based on "what they look like, who they love, how they pray or why they are."

Read or watch President Obama's remarks before signing the legislation:

After more than a decade of opposition and delay, we've passed inclusive hate crimes legislation to help protect our citizens from violence based on what they look like, who they love, how they pray, or who they are. I promised Judy Shepard, when she saw me in the Oval Office, that this day would come, and I'm glad that she and her husband Dennis could join us for this event. I'm also honored to have the family of the late Senator Ted Kennedy, who fought so hard for this legislation. And Vicki and Patrick, Kara, everybody who's here, I just want you all to know how proud we are of the work that Ted did to help this day -- make this day possible. So -- and thank you for joining us here today. (Applause.) So, with that, I'm going to sign this piece of legislation.

Obama also delivered some remarks about the legislation later in evening:

The Human Rights Campaign released a tribute video to Shepard's parents, Judy and Dennis Shepard, for their fight to protect other gays from the kind of violence that killed their son.

Watch it, and read Judy Shepard's statement on today's bill signing below:

Story continues below

After a decade of debate, persistent advocacy and 14 separate congressional floor votes, President Barack Obama today signed into law the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in a White House ceremony attended by the Shepard and Byrd families.

"When Dennis and I started calling 10 years ago for federal action to prevent and properly prosecute hate crimes against gay, lesbian and transgendered Americans, we never imagined it would take this long," said Judy Shepard, Matthew's mother and the president of the Matthew Shepard Foundation Board of Directors.

"The legislation went through so many versions and so many votes that we had to constantly keep our hopes in check to keep from getting discouraged," she continued. "But with President Obama's support and the continually growing bipartisan majorities in the House and Senate lining up behind the bill this year, it became clear that 2009 was the year it would finally happen."

The legislation allows federal authorities to pursue charges in violent crimes motivated by the victim's actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and disability, in cases where local authorities cannot or will not secure appropriate convictions. It also opens up federal aid to local law enforcement for training, prevention and investigation.

"We are incredibly grateful to Congress and the president for taking this step forward on behalf of hate crime victims and their families, especially given the continuing attacks on people simply for living their lives openly and honestly," Shepard added. "But each of us can and must do much more to ensure true equality for all Americans."

The Matthew Shepard Foundation's work for an inclusive society continues after passage of this landmark legislation. In addition to advocating for workplace and housing equality, equal rights for same-sex couples, and an end to the ban on gay and lesbian military service, the Foundation continues to reach out to schools and corporations nationwide to encourage respect for human dignity and differences.

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Comments

[AnotherAngle]

Hmmmm .....

Crimes against about anyone that isn't a straight white man have become more serious, in other words, "unequal" with certain sectors of our population. Committing a crime against someone that's LGBT will carry a steeper penalty.

The people praising this revelation are the same ones that are fighting for equality, i.e. marriage. You say it's a civil right that we are ALL treated equally. The LGBTs just want what the straights have!

Now we find that crimes committed against straights and crimes committed against gays are not equal at all. It seems that crimes against a straight white guy isn't quite as serious and doesn't warrant the attention of the feds.

In the name of equality, suppose a straight white guy wants to be covered under this hate crime bill. What would you tell him?

[grandpaMark]

I hear the term "hate crime" used a great deal on Fox. O'Reilly claims costumed gay men entering a Catholic church is a hate crime. Hume wanted to know why a group of blacks beating a white man, days before Byrd's lynching in Jasper Tx. wasn't a hate crime? Funny,when Dr. Tiller was assassinated in church, these same outraged folks said Tiller deserved it. Now, we have a standard, one much more reliable than the whims of violence loving rightists.

[JNarragansett]

When is the evidence to support the "hate" element of the crime introduced? If it is only introduced after an individual is convicted of the underlying crime, then you can disregard the rest of this. If such evidence must be presented at trial, I would think that you would run into problems with FRE 403 as the prejudicial effect of labeling someone a bigot, racist or intolerant would outweigh the probative value that evidence. I know that this is a case by case decision, but making bias one of the elements of a crime is an invitation to relax the Federal Rules of Evidence.

[carolm62]

Can't we just all agree that in a civilized society people have the right to be lovingly bludgeoned to death...?

[Peter Danbridge]

To all those who say hate crime legislation makes second-class citizens out of straight, white men, I have this to say:

This nation was literally built on prejudice, discrimination, and bigotry under an abusive patriarchal structure, and that structure is still in place.

Our society is not yet civilized enough to treat historically marginalized and mistreated minority groups with basic human dignity, as Matthew Sheperd's death does indeed attest (my own friend Matt was nearly beaten to death with a steel pipe for simply walking down the street...he is the kind of gay man you just know is gay when you see him).

Until our capacity for compassion and basic decency reaches a point where it is simply socially unacceptable to do harm to these minority groups (attacks on individuals are really attacks on entire groups of people), such laws are a necessary deterrent.

Considering the violent abuse and political marginalization often endured by these minority groups, I have little tolerance for white heterosexuals complaining about having been made so-called second-class citizens.

[moutonnoir]

Yes. You are correct!

[JuniperSunshine]

"This nation was literally built on prejudice, discrimination, and bigotry under an abusive patriarchal structure, and that structure is still in place."

I disagree. I do, however, think we have a long way to go in increasing our compassion for others as a society.

"....a point where it is simply socially unacceptable to do harm to these minority groups..."

It already IS socially unacceptable. Just because terrible things happen, like rape or murder, does not mean that the bulk of society accepts them as tolerable. I am frankly not sure why reclassifying a murder as particularly evil because the killer was a bigot should help anything.

I understand. Particularly in the gay community, people want to "do something". We SHOULD try to do something to lessen these crimes. But we don't have the right to legally divide the murder of a gay person from the lesser crime of murder of a straight person. As a mother, I am particularly moved when a murder victim's mother calls for justice. But feeling compassion is one thing. Demanding legal redress because your victim was "more victimized" is simply not constitutional for any special interest group. It does not promote equality and it does not make these crimes any less likely. It only makes us feel better.

[Sandmanj]

As a white heterosexual I totally agree.

[Conservador-Rebelde]

"The societies in which many of us live have for more than a generation failed to foster moral discipline. They have taught that truth is relative and that everyone decides for himself or herself what is right…As a consequence, self-discipline has eroded and societies are left to try to maintain order and civility by compulsion. The lack of internal control by individuals breeds external control by governments. One columnist observed that ‘gentlemanly behavior’ [for example, once] protected women from coarse behavior. Today, we expect sexual harassment laws to restrain coarse behavior. . . . Policemen and laws can never replace customs, traditions and moral values as a means for regulating human behavior. At best, the police and criminal justice system are the last desperate line of defense for a civilized society. Our increased reliance on laws to regulate behavior is a measure of how uncivilized we’ve become.”
D. Todd Christofferson

[StorminNormanTheNag]

I don't think the point of laws like this one is to deter perps. It's to prod cops and DA's.

[ZenBastard]

The 1969 Federal Hate Crimes Law permits federal prosecution of anyone who "willingly injures, intimidates or interferes with another person, or attempts to do so, by force because of the other person's race, color, religion or national origin" and because of his/his attempting to engage in one of six types of federally protected activities, such as attending school, patronizing a public place/facility, applying for employment, acting as a juror in a state court or voting.

Under the Hate Crime Statistics Act of 1990, the FBI has been reporting hate crimes based on perceived race, religion, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. Since 1994, their reports have included disability.

The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act requires the United States Sentencing Commission to increase the penalties for hate crimes committed on the basis of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, or sex of any person.

The Matthew Shepard Act expands existing United States federal hate crime law to include crimes motivated by a victim's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability, and which drops the prerequisite that the victim be engaging in a federally-protected activity. The bill expands on the earlier versions by including transgender provisions and making it explicit that the law should not be interpreted to restrict people's freedom of speech or association.

So, you people can stop whining about homosexuals getting "special" rules that put them "above" everyone else. It’s actually just made them equal. Finally.

[carolm62]

I hate red-heads. Whew!

[jsaugie]

See what happens when you don't give up!!!

[selenasade]

It beats me what hate crime laws are meant to accomplish? Surely an open and persistent debate on why we see homosexuals and others as different would be more productive. For sixty years we have not been able to say a word about the Jews. People have been jailed and kicked out of countries because their writings and words have been labeled anti-Semitic. Has it made any difference to the way the Jews are perceived? No! It will be the same for homosexuals. The people who hate will still hate because rules, like punishment, will never stop hating. We need to look at the reasons children are taught to hate people like Matthew. We need to look at the concept of personal judging and the notion that we are better than others. Maybe this is the only thing that will make a difference.

[PAsteelers]

good work, Mr. Pres. This bill was long overdue because of the repubs.

[carolm62]

Sounds like Repubs ought to be added to the list.....

[Cakey4814]

I am pleased that this hate bill was signed into law however please don't forget James Byrd, Jr. Huffpo. He suffered a horrible death and was attacked solely based on his color. Both suffered a horrible death due to prejudice; let's honor both.

[caad4]

excuse me, "advocate". even worse.

[caad4]

gee, thanks! real strong support, andman. if you were a "strong supporter" of "homosexuals" having equal rights, you'd have a very clear idea of exactly why this legislation is needed.

[Andman0121]

Also, although I am a strong advocate of homosexuals having complete equal rights, hate crime legislation is silly. We already have the 14th amendment which guarentees equal protection under the law. This is just a PR stunt by the government.

[MM216]

Well, the Bush Administration didn't take the 14th Amendment too seriously.

[Mike Kilpatrick]

actually Andman it just gives extra time based on motive. that's why there are different degrees of murder with different penalties. It's about motive.

[carolm62]

SInce people generally only kill people for whom they have the highest regard it is a much more terrible thing to be killed by someone who doesn't particularly like you. That's like adding insult to injury.

[Andman0121]

hmmm. You have a good point. I didnt take into consideration the degrees of murder itself. Thank you.