Congressman Jerrold Nadler (NY-08), Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, today chaired a hearing of the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security to examine H.R.1592, the “The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2007.”

“Hate crimes attack more than just the individual victim: they are an assault against an entire group of Americans,” said Rep. Nadler.  “No American should have to live in fear because they are threatened with violence simply because of who they are.  As today’s hearing will affirm, there is no place for violent bigotry and vicious acts of hatred in our America.”

Rep. Nadler chaired today’s hearing as the Chairman of the Subcommittee, Rep. Bobby Scott (VA-03) was in Virginia to attend a memorial service for the victims of Monday’s tragedy at Virginia Tech.  At the beginning of the hearing, Rep. Nadler observed a moment of silence in the memory of those victims.

Today’s hearing will provide the Subcommittee an opportunity to explore the impact of hate crime investigations on local law enforcement and the justifications for amending the federal criminal code to cover a larger class of victims.

The Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act would assist state and local law enforcement by permitting the Justice Department to assist in investigation and prosecution of bias-motivated crimes.  Federal jurisdiction would be expanded in hate crimes based on the victim’s perceived sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or disability.  The bill would also provide financial assistance to help local and state governments meet the extraordinary expenses that may occur in the prosecution of hate crimes.

Under the Hate Crime Statistics Act, the FBI annually collects and reports on the number of bias-related criminal incidents reported by local and state law enforcement.  For 2005, the most recent year for which data is available, the FBI reported 7,163 bias-related incidents: 3,919 (54.7%) were related to race, 1,227 (17.1%) to religion, 1,017 (14.2%) to sexual orientation, 944 (13.2%) to ethnicity or national origin, and 53 (0.74%) to disability.  This number is likely low because not all law enforcement agencies report data, and hate crimes are frequently under reported.

“We have a moral obligation to act on this issue,” added Rep. Nadler.  “This carefully crafted bill would also ensure that the bedrock principles protected by the First Amendment – the activity of speech and association – will not be infringed.”