Hate Crime Legislation in South Carolina

Preamble: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Congress enacted the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, passed on October 22, 2009 and signed into law on October 28, 2009. This was part of the National Defense Reauthorization Act of 2010. Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act
S. 909, H.R. 1913

This law makes it a federal offense to assault or harass American citizens in the United States of America based on their race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.

The bill also allocates five million dollars for the years 2010-2012 for the states of the union to be helped in investigations and prosecuting hate crimes. It also requires the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) to track statistics on hate crimes against transgender people. [http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/ucr.htm ]

Senator Jim DeMint of South Carolina spoke against the bill and refuses to recognize it as a law in the state of South Carolina.

In April of 1968, just one week after the assassination of Martin Luther King, as our nation mourned in grief and shuddered in anger, President Lyndon Johnson signed landmark civil rights legislation. This was the first time we as a nation enshrined into law federal protections against crimes motivated by religious or racial hatred -- the law on which we build today.