An Important Expansion of the Protection of Civil Rights
After over ten years of activists pushing for an expanded definition of what ‘hate crimes’ covers, yesterday President Barack Obama signed into law a provision that does just that. Attached to a defense authorization bill, the Matthew Shepard & James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, is named after Matthew Shepard, a gay college student tortured and killed in 1998, and James Byrd Jr., a black man who was dragged to death after being chained to a pickup truck that same year.
Judy Shepard, mother of slain Matthew Shepard, and President Obama
The signing of the measure by the President was attended by many, including Shepard’s parents, Judy and Dennis Shepard, as well as members of the family of the late Senator Ted Kennedy, to whom the measure was always clearly a priority. Speaking about the new law, Obama articulated the following, that was greeted by applause:
“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.”
The law broadens the scope of the statute passed in the 1968 aftermath of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., which previously used language that made hate crimes those crimes that were committed against people because of their race, religion or national origin. The new legislation expands hate crimes to included those attacked based on gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.
This also allows that the U.S. Justice Department has expanded authority to prosecute such crimes when local authorities don’t.
While Sojourn to the Past focuses our educational trip on the Civil Rights Movement activities that happened decades ago, we agree that any day where progress is made to protect the rights of all Americans is a victory in line with our efforts.
Tags: civil rights, civil rights laws, sojourn, sojourn to the past
