This is an ongoing feature keeping track of bills that states are introducing to extend hate crime protections to police officers. It will be updated monthly or as the need arises.
WASHINGTON ― Last week, The Huffington Post determined that state legislatures had introduced at least 32 bills in 2017 proposing that hate crime protections be extended to members of law enforcement, adding to 15 such bills that states introduced in 2016.
Since we published last week’s analysis, at least one bill was added to the list — Mississippi’s House Bill 645, which did not initially stipulate that police officers were protected under the state’s hate crime statute until it was amended in a state Senate committee. Along with Mississippi HB 645, a bill in Kentucky has advanced to the state’s governor. Another bill in Washington state has passed the state Senate.
HuffPost Visuals Editor Alissa Scheller has created the awesome graphic to track these bills, and we’ll routinely update it with new information.
Meanwhile, here’s a simple list of all the legislation states are pursuing to categorize crimes against police officers as hate crimes, including the bill numbers and their current status. Some states have introduced such bills repeatedly ― Mississippi, for example, has done so 11 times as of March 9.
Alabama HB 52 ― DIED IN COMMITTEE
California AB 2 ― IN COMMITTEE
Connecticut HB 5297 ― IN COMMITTEE
Delaware SB 263 ― DIED IN COMMITTEE
Illinois HB 1801 ― IN COMMITTEE
Illinois HB 2487 ― IN COMMITTEE
Kentucky HB 14 ― ADVANCED TO GOVERNOR
Louisiana HB 953 ― SIGNED INTO LAW
Maryland SB 42 ― DIED IN COMMITTEE
Maryland HB 25 ― DIED IN COMMITTEE
Maryland HB 19 ― DIED IN COMMITTEE
Maryland SB 120 ― IN COMMITTEE
Mississippi SB 2129 ― DIED IN COMMITTEE
Mississippi HB 645 ― ADVANCED TO GOVERNOR
Mississippi HB 615 ― DIED IN COMMITTEE
Mississippi HB 747 ― DIED IN COMMITTEE
Mississippi HB 647 ― DIED IN COMMITTEE
Mississippi HB 754 ― DIED IN COMMITTEE
Mississippi HB 646 ― DIED IN COMMITTEE
Mississippi SB 2674 ― DIED IN COMMITTEE
Mississippi SB 2376 ― DIED IN COMMITTEE
Mississippi HB 1359 ― DIED IN COMMITTEE
Mississippi SB 2469 ― DIED IN COMMITTEE
Missouri HB 86 ― IN COMMITTEE
New Jersey A1708 ― IN COMMITTEE
New Jersey S1686 ― IN COMMITTEE
New Jersey S2478 ― IN COMMITTEE
New Jersey A4101 ― IN COMMITTEE
New Mexico HB 95 ― DIED IN COMMITTEE
New Mexico HB 79 ― IN COMMITTEE
New York A10543 ― DIED IN COMMITTEE
New York S8212 ― IN COMMITTEE
New York S1114 ― IN COMMITTEE
New York A1652 ― IN COMMITTEE
New York A2962 ― IN COMMITTEE
Pennsylvania HB 2261 ― DIED IN COMMITTEE
Pennsylvania SB 1383 ― DIED IN COMMITTEE
Pennsylvania HB 90 ― IN COMMITTEE
Pennsylvania HB 158 ― IN COMMITTEE
South Carolina H3184 ― IN COMMITTEE
Tennessee SB 6 ― WITHDRAWN
Texas HB 429 ― IN COMMITTEE
Virginia HB 1398 ― DIED IN COMMITTEE
Virginia SB 1524 ― DIED IN COMMITTEE
Washington SB 5280 ― ADVANCED TO HOUSE
Washington HB 1398 ― IN COMMITTEE
Washington HB 1986 ― IN COMMITTEE
Wisconsin AB 48 ― IN COMMITTEE
You can find more detailed information about the bills ― such as the sponsor’s party and when the legislation was introduced ― in this spreadsheet.
As always, you can help us out by submitting bills or updates that we missed.
Before You Go
