The following letter regarding the proposed Hate Crimes Prevention Act was sent by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights to Senate leaders:
June 16, 2009
Re: S. 909
Dear Mr. President and Distinguished Senators:
We write today to urge you to vote against the proposed Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act (S. 909) (“MSHCPA”)
We believe that MSHCPA will do little good and a great deal of harm. Its most important effect will be to allow federal authorities to re-prosecute a broad category of defendants who have already been acquitted by state juries—as in the Rodney King and Crown Heights cases more than a decade ago Due to the exception for prosecutions by “dual sovereigns,” such double prosecutions are technically not violations of the Double Jeopardy Clause of the U.S. Constitution But they are very much a violation of the spirit that drove the framers of the Bill of Rights, who never dreamed that federal criminal jurisdiction would be expanded to the point where an astonishing proportion of crimes are now both state and federal offenses. We regard the broad federalization of crime as a menace to civil liberties. There is no better place to draw the line on that process than with a bill that purports to protect civil rights.
Folks, this article from the homosexual Washington Blade newspaper is a must-read. Note that pro-homosexual strategists in Washington fear a filibuster of a “stand alone” version of the bill. We’ve included the key portions below. TAKE ACTION: the anti-Christian homosexual lobby group Human Rights Campaign is pushing hard to get “Hate Crimes” passed. Call your U.S. Senators at 202-224-3121 and urge them to oppose S. 909 or any “Hate Crimes” legislation — as an amendment or a stand-alone bill. For more on the dangers of Orwellian “Thought Crimes” laws, go HERE, HERE and a legal analysis of the House version of S. 909 HERE.
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Excerpted from the Washington Blade:
Senate to pass hate crimes bill as amendment HRC calls for vote before summer’s end
By CHRIS JOHNSON, Washington Blade | Jun 8 2009
Senate leadership has decided to pass hate crimes legislation as an amendment to another bill instead of a standalone piece of legislation, according to the Human Rights Campaign.
Trevor Thomas, an HRC spokesperson, told the Blade in a statement Monday that the Senate settled on this method of passage.
“We understand that Senate leadership does not believe a hearing or mark up on the bill is necessary and plans to bring it directly to the floor as an amendment to another moving vehicle,” he said.
A longtime pundit and supporter of the homosexual lifestyle choice has admitted online that the so-called “hate crimes” bill now pending in the U.S. Senate is totally unnecessary, according to a report.
“The real reason for hate crime laws is not the defense of human beings from crime. There are already laws against that – and Matthew Shepard’s murderers were successfully prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law in a state with no hate crimes law at the time,” wrote Andrew Sullivan in his “Daily Dish” column.
“The real reason for the invention of hate crimes was a hard-left critique of conventional liberal justice and the emergence of special interest groups which need boutique legislation to raise funds for their large staffs and luxurious buildings,” he continued.
“Just imagine how many direct mail pieces have gone out explaining that without more money for [Human Rights Campaign], more gay human beings will be crucified on fences. It’s very, very powerful as a money-making tool – which may explain why the largely symbolic federal bill still hasn’t passed.”
Fantastic “Findings”: Even as “queer” bloggers incongruously and hilariously accuse Matt Barber of being a latent, self-loathing closet-case (trapped in a former pro heavyweight boxer’s body no less), we don’t think Matt would be “pretty in pink.” But not to worry: something tells us that Matt is not going to lose this bet concerning the preposterous “findings” of Senate “hate crimes” bill, S. 909. Reminder: Matt, a Board Member of Americans For Truth, will be the keynote speaker at our banquet on Saturday, Oct. 10 outside Chicago. Save that date! — Peter LaBarbera, www.aftah.com
TAKE ACTION: Call your U.S. Senators and urge them to oppose S. 909, the “Thought Crimes” (hate crimes) bill; call 202-224-3121 or 202-225-3121 or go to www.congress.org.
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Hate crimes’ bill is full of swill
Matt Barber, 5/7/2009 10:15:00 AM
Senate sponsors and liberal activist proponents of the federal “hate crimes” bill, S. 909, have been caught in a series of bald-faced lies. So confident am I of this, that if they can prove me wrong (for real I mean – you know, with evidence and such) I’ll join their little soirée, don a very large pink evening gown and publicly voice support for the legislation.
To the express exclusion of other identifiable groups – including veterans, the elderly and the homeless – S. 909, in its current form, would grant special federal resources and preferred minority status to pedophiles, homosexuals, cross-dressers and – as Democratic sponsor Alcee Hastings recently admitted on the House floor – a host of other APA recognized “sexual orientations” (i.e., deviant sexual fetishes and perversions).
Drug Crime or “Hate Crime”? Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), shown at far left, is being pilloried by homosexual activists because she challenged the homosexual activist myth that Wyoming college student Matt Shepard was murdered “just because he was gay.” In 2004, ABC News’ 20/20 reported that former Laramie Police Detective Ben Fritzen, one of the lead investigators in the Shepard murder case, believed robbery was the primary motive. “Matthew Shepard’s sexual preference or sexual orientation certainly wasn’t the motive in the homicide,” Fritzen told 20/20. D. Foxx was savaged by left-wing MSNBC bloviator Keith Olbermann, who evidently never saw the ABC report, which revealed that Shepard’s murderer was on a “meth [methamphetamine] binge.”
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Folks, I don’t know about calling it a “hoax,” but Rep. Foxx is correct to challenge the ongoing myth that says Matthew Shepard was killed just for being “gay.” Read this 2004 ABC 20/20 report and decide for yourself. Regardless, the fact that Shepard’s is now one of the most famous murder cases in history belies the notion that homosexuals are somehow underserved by our justice system. In fact, thousands of victims of similar horrific violence never received any of the national media attention that this crime received. TAKE ACTION: Call your U.S. Senators and urge them to oppose “hate crimes” legislation, H.R. 1913, which would federalize homosexuality (“sexual orientation”) law and create a politically correct hierarchy of victims. Call 202-224-3121 or go to www.congress.org.
NC Congresswoman Claims Shepard Murder ‘Not a Hate Crime’
By Jim Brown – OneNewsNow – 5/5/2009 7:00:00
Matthew ShepardA Republican lawmaker has enraged supporters of “hate crimes” legislation for suggesting that the horrible murder of Matthew Shepard was not motivated by anti-homosexual bigotry.
Congresswoman Virginia Foxx (R-North Carolina) drew the ire of homosexual activists and other supporters of hate crimes legislation last week when she suggested that the tragic 1998 murder of college student Matthew Shepard was not a hate crime.
“We know that young man was killed in the commitment of a robbery. It wasn’t because he was gay,” Foxx said on the House floor. “The bill was named for him — the hate crimes bill was named for him, but it’s really a hoax that continues to be used as an excuse for passing these bills.”
Sought to exempt pedophiles from inclusion under “Sexual Orientation”
What a travesty that House Democratic leaders did not even allow a full-fledged floor debate on H.R. 1913. the “Thought Crimes” bill, which could become the first law to federalize both “sexual orientation” and “gender identity.” Below Congressman Steve King discusses the “Hate Crimes” legislation during the limited House floor debate on April 29, 2009:
Yesterday the U.S. House passed H.R. 1913 and elevated “actual or perceived” “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to the same federal legal status as race. The vote was 249 to 175, with 10 not voting. You can see how your representative voted by checking the roll online.
Officially Preferred Victims: Liberty University law professor Shawn Akers writes that if H.R. 1913, the federal “Hate Crimes” bill, becomes law, “local and state law enforcement would have the incentive of federal funds to prosecute cases involving … preferred victims to the exclusion and neglect of less valuable victims.” Membership in the “preferred” category is “based not on immutable characteristics but on the class member’s choice of sexual conduct … and subjective gender self-identity.”
TAKE ACTION: Call or write your U.S. Representative and Senators in opposition to H.R. 1913, the “Hate Crimes” bill that will likely be voted on by the House tomorrow, Wednesday, April 28. Call 202-225-3121 or 202-224-3121 or contact your representatives through www.congress.org.
Editor’s Note: we delayed in making a change in copy desired by the author, in paragraph I.A. (“Characteristics”), giving the proper credit for a description of the Hate Crimes bill, HR 1913. That paragraph was corrected on May 1, 2009.
Following is an outstanding analysis of the federal “Hate Crimes” bill, HR 1913, which could be voted on by the House of Representatives tomorrow (Wednesday, April 29). Shawn Akers is a relative newcomer to the pro-family movement but is shaping up to be a future all-star. He serves as a Policy Analyst with Liberty Counsel, and as Adjunct Professor of Law and Director of Academic Support with Liberty University School of Law. Akers is a close friend, colleague and former Regent Law classmate of Matt Barber, AFTAH Board Member and current Culture War heavyweight also with Liberty Counsel. (Barber will keynote AFTAH’s fundraising banquet on Saturday, Oct. 10 — save the date.) Keep an eye on Shawn. The Lord will be using him mightily as the heated culture war reaches a boil. — Peter LaBarbera, Americans For Truth About Homosexuality, www.aftah.com.
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