Legislators considering expanded protection under hate crime laws

By CHERYL FRANKENFIELD
Collegian Staff Writer

With an increasing number of hate groups being reported by the Southern Poverty Law Center, Pennsylvania legislators are looking to extend protection to more people.

The Ethnic Intimidation and Institutional Vandalism Act was signed into law in 1982 and protects people subjected to hate crimes because of race, color, religion or national origin.

The legislation increases penalties for persons found guilty of committing such hate crimes.

Legislators in the state General Assembly are reviewing several bills that would expand protection to include sexual orientation, disability, gender and ancestry under the act.

For example, Senate Bill 343 was introduced last session, said Mike Aumiller, executive assistant to state Sen. Jack Wagner, D-Allegheny.

"This (bill is) recommended by the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission," Aumiller said.

The commission monitors hate group activity within the state, and its members have met with legislators to look at ways to strengthen the act, said Daniel Welliver, director of the commission's Education and Community Services.

Currently, a person must prove an incident, such as an assault, was motivated by bias, said Lu-in Wang, assistant professor of law at the University of Pittsburgh.

Pennsylvania has been trying for years to get sexual orientation included in the ethnic law, said Wang, who wrote a book in 1994 about hate crime laws.

"In a lot of states, it's a real controversial (issue)," Wang said, because some legislators think it endorses the gay lifestyle.

But the law is just trying to protect people against potential violence, Wang said.

Wyoming recently considered including sexual orientation under hate crimes, but it was defeated, Wang said.

Similar bills regarding hate crimes have been introduced in the Pennsylvania House, but most are being discussed by committees now, Aumiller said.

The chair of the judiciary committee needs to consider the Senate bill because he is in the position of putting the bill up for a vote, he added.

"There seems to be a flurry of (bills). There are a variety of them out there, Welliver said.

• Crusading against hate