In a previous post I covered SB 1965, a legislative effort by Senator Steve Russell (R – Oklahoma City) to effectively opt Oklahoma out of the recently adopted hate crime provisions of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009. While I want to refrain from questioning the senator’s motivations, I have no problem questioning his intentions. In a press release he spells out a clear opposition to the Shepard Act:
Oklahoma currently has tough, good laws that include hate crimes laws. Any murder or brutal assault is hateful. That is the problem with singling out something more with this federal law. I believe this legislation far exceeds the powers of government over states as outlined in the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. I am also very concerned that this loosely defined and ill-conceived legislation could be used to target people’s belief, freedom to associate in groups, right to assemble on issues, as well as target people’s right to free speech.
The Oklahoma State Capitol building. (Photo by Daniel Mayer, used under Creative Commons 3.0)
What Russell fails to mention is that Oklahoma’s current statute does not include a victim’s actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity as motivations for a hate crime. In his rush to defend the privileges of the empowered, Senator Russell runs roughshod over the basic human rights of members of the LGBTQIA community. As a commenter on my previous post pointed out, the failure to prosecute the perpetrators of hate crimes creates an continue reading…
