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Senate Bill 35, known as the hate crimes bill, was defeated
last week in an Arkansas legislative committee due in part
to problems with "the reliability of some of the people testifying,"
state legislative representative Jan Judy said.
The bill was defeated in the House judiciary committee, primarily
made up of local attorneys, Judy said, with an 11-5 vote.
It was the third time the bill had been introduced into Arkansas
legislation.
"It got a lot farther this time than before," Judy said, but
only slightly. The last time the bill was introduced it was
defeated 12-4.
The continual defeat of the bill comes as a disappointment
to many, as Arkansas remains one of only six states in the
U.S. still without hate crime legislation.
The bill, which was supported by Arkansas Attorney General
Mark Pryor and many civil and human rights organizations,
was aimed at deterring violence against individuals brought
about because of the victim's race, color, religion, ethnicity,
ancestry, national origin, sexual orientation, gender or disability.
A person convicted under the bill, had it passed, would face
an increase in existing sentencing of up to 20 percent.
Supporters of the bill include the University of Arkansas
chapter of People Respecting Individual Differences in Everyone
(P.R.I.D.E.). Members say a hate crime law is not necessary
to protect individuals, but groups of people.
"Hate crimes send a message to the victim's whole 'group'
that they are not safe," said Erin Corwin, President of the
UA chapter of P.R.I.D.E.
"We believe that no one should be targeted for violence just
because of who they are," she added.
The Arkansas Citizens First Congress, a lobbying group that
supports the bill, placed hate crimes on its legislative agenda
this session to send a message to the criminal justice system.
"The (hate crimes) bill says to law enforcement officials,
'Take these crimes seriously, respond to them,'" said Samantha
Jones, a member of ACFC.
Although the bill passed the Senate last month by a vote of
23-13, it was stalled out in the House committee by strong
opposition.
Jerry Cox, president of the Family Council of Arkansas, was
on the forefront of lobbying efforts against the bill. Cox's
said his group was against the bill because they assert increasing
the importance placed on some crimes, lessens the importance
of others.
"Every crime is a hate crime and should be punished as such,"
Cox said.
Cox, who has been accused by the bill's sponsor of spreading
false information about the bill, said he was particularly
bothered by the inclusion of sexual orientation in the bill's
language.
"In our view, sexual orientation is not an inherent situation
like race or color," Cox said.
The bill's sponsor has vowed to reintroduce the bill into
the House as soon as possible. However, for the committee
to reconsider the measure, at least one of the committee members
who voted against it must agree to rehear the bill.
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