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Discuss “Hate crimes bill may not get past Dubya”

Last Thursday, the Senate officially passed the Matthew Shepard Act, a hate crimes legislation bill named after the college student who, in 1997, was beaten to death and left tied to a fence in Laramie, Wyo. — because he was gay.

Current hate crime laws limit the definition of a hate crime to those punishable acts committed due to bias against a particular race or religion. Furthermore, a crime directed at someone can only be charged as a hate crime if it intends to deter a person from performing a federally regulated activity, such as voting or going to school.

The Senate’s efforts are particularly laudable because this new bill, if signed into law, would extend the scope of hate crimes to those committed because of bias against sexual...

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