The Cathedral Connection

Each month, Trinity's Web site features an article from our newsletter, The Cathedral Connection.

From the June 2009 issue of the Cathedral Connection

The Matthew Shepard Act: Hate Crime Prevention in Congress

On the night of October 6-7, 1998, University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard was tortured near Laramie, Wyoming by two men who had offered him a ride leaving a bar. Matthew Shepard, age 21, died six days later from severe head injuries. At the trial, witnesses testified that his murderers targeted him because he was gay.

Crimes like Matthew Shepard's murder are classified as hate crimes when the perpetrator intentionally selects the victim because of race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, ability or religion. Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people were the victims in more than 16 percent of the hate crimes reported by the F.B.I. in 2007, and according to the Human Rights Campaign, hate crimes against LGBT people are disproportionately among the most violent.

This year, the U.S. Congress is considering the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act /Matthew Shepard Act. The legislation gives the Department of Justice (DOJ) the power to investigate and prosecute bias-motivated violence by providing the DOJ with jurisdiction over crimes of violence where the perpetrator has selected the victim because of the person's actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.

The Matthew Shepard Act provides the DOJ with the ability to aid state and local jurisdictions either by lending assistance or, where local authorities are unwilling or unable to act, by taking the lead in investigations and prosecutions of bias-motivated, violent crimes resulting in death or serious bodily injury. The Shepard Act also makes grants available to state and local communities to combat violent crimes committed by juveniles, train law enforcement officers or assist in state and local investigations and prosecutions of bias-motivated crimes.

The Matthew Shepard Act passed the House of Representatives as H.B. 1913 on April 29. Among members of Congress from northern Ohio, Representatives Boccieri, Fudge, Kaptur, Kucinich, Ryan and Sutton voted yes. Representatives Latta and LaTourette voted no.

The legislation was introduced in the U.S. Senate on April 28 by a bipartisan coalition including Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), and Senator Arlen Specter (D-PA). As of this writing, in mid-May, the Senate is expected to vote at any time.

The Episcopal Public Policy Network (EPPN) has urged Episcopalians to contact their senators and urge passage of the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act /Matthew Shepard Act. In its action alert, EPPN said, "If we aspire to be true to the prophetic core of our faith, we cannot condemn hate and then sit idly by while it destroys our communities. In keeping with our Baptismal Covenant pledge to 'respect the dignity of every human being,' we must work with the government to create a society in which diverse people are safe as well as free."

To learn more about the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act /Matthew Shepard Act, visit the Human Rights Campaign website at www.hrc.org/issues/hate_crimes.