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TO:
Board of Directors and Trustees of the Lawyers'
Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; Local Affiliates and
Friends of the Lawyers' Committee
FROM:
Barbara R. Arnwine, Thomas J. Henderson and Diane L. Gross
URGENT!!!
Hate Crimes Prevention Act (H.R. 1082) Before House of Representatives.
Last
month, in an historic bipartisan vote, the Senate passed
the Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act of 2000. This
was a critical first step to enacting hate crimes prevention
legislation, which will strengthen existing federal hate
crimes laws. While the passage of this bill in the Senate
is undoubtedly an important victory in securing an environment
free of hate motivated violence, it is critical that the
House follow the Senateís lead in order for this bill to
become a law.
We urgently request that all of those concerned with seeing
this crucial anti-bias law enacted and protecting the civil
rights of all Americans contact their Representative and
urge their support of this bill.
Demand that passing the HCPA be an absolute priority before
the end of this Congress. House members needs to know that
you care deeply about bias-motivated violence and will not
tolerate their failure to enact the HCPA before they adjourn.
WHAT
IS NEEDED?:
Contact members of the House to inform them that the HCPA
must be a priority and it is critical that this legislation
gets passed before recess in August.
Let
them know that they have an essential leadership role to
play in confronting and punishing criminal activity motivated
by prejudice. Capitol Hill Switchboard at 202-224-3121 or
locate at http://thomas.loc.gov
IMPORTANT
POINTS:
State
and local authorities currently investigate and prosecute
the majority of hate crime cases and will continue to do
so. While many states have hate crimes statutes, they vary
considerably in their coverage and the authority they give
state law enforcement to act.
The federal government must have jurisdiction to address
those bias-motivated crimes in states which the law is inadequate
or where state authorities fail to act.
HCPA only provides the necessary backstop to state and local
enforcement by permitting federal authorities to provide
assistance to these investigations and by allowing federal
prosecution when necessary to achieve a just result.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT DIANE
GROSS AT (202)662-8600 or dgross@lawyerscomm.org
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