Progress and Problems in the Campaign for Hate Crimes Protections for People With Disabilities

By: Morgan Sheets

The Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act (HR 1913/S 909) extends federal protections granted under the 1968 hate crimes law to cover those physically attacked because of their gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. It grants agencies the authority to investigate and prosecute federal crimes based on the victim’s disability, whether real or perceived, and would authorize funding to states to help with the prosecution of hate crimes. It also makes grants available to state and local communities to combat violent crimes committed by juveniles, train law enforcement officers and to assist in state and local investigations and prosecutions of bias-motivated crimes.

The Amputee Coalition endorsed this important legislation, recognizing that bias against people with disabilities takes many forms, including violence. 

Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) sponsored the bill and more than 160 members of Congress signed on in support. On Friday, July 17, the Senate passed the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act as an amendment to the fiscal year 2010 Department of Defense authorization bill.  

Sadly, the Senate passed an amendment to the act offered by Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) that would allow the death penalty to be applied in hate crimes cases under some circumstances. Given the highly controversial nature of the death penalty and public policy issues that come with a death-penalty amendment, this was essentially an effort to halt the passage of the bill. 

The Sessions amendment can still be removed from the bill by a House-Senate conference committee, which will meet in September to reconcile the two versions of the legislation. The full House and Senate will vote on the final version of the bill before it is sent to President Obama.

For more information on this issue, read, “Amputee Coalition Works to Advance Protections for People with Disabilities.”