Public outcry forces 'hate crimes' hearing

Democratic bill managers in the Senate, who earlier had been reported to be wanting to attach a "hate crimes" plan as an amendment to another bill already moving through the legislative process, apparently have dropped that plan.

That's because the Senate Judiciary Committee posted on its website a notice that the proposal, pending as S. 909 after being approved 249-175 in the House, will be the subject of a committee hearing on June 25.

"The Senate Committee on the Judiciary will hold a hearing entitled 'The Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009' on Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 10:00 a.m. in Room 226 of the Senate Dirksen Office Building," the announcement confirmed.

Attorney General Eric Holder, who has publicly promoted the idea, is listed as the only witness so far.

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A hearing on the plan had been sought by opponents because that is where amendments generally are proposed and discussed. It was during the amendment process in the U.S. House that the bill earned the title "Pedophile Protection Act" after Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, offered an amendment reading: "The term sexual orientation as used in this act or any amendments to this act does not include pedophilia."

But majority Democrats refused to accept it.

"Having reviewed cases as an appellate judge, I know that when the legislature has the chance to include a definition and refuses, then what we look at is the plain meaning of those words," explained Rep. Louis Gohmert, R-Texas. "The plain meaning of sexual orientation is anything to which someone is orientated. That could include exhibitionism, it could include necrophilia (sexual arousal/activity with a corpse) ... it could include urophilia (sexual arousal associated with urine), voyeurism. You see someone spying on you changing clothes and you hit them, they've committed a misdemeanor, you've committed a federal felony under this bill. It is so wrong."

Part of the FedEx campaign of letters from citizens opposing the "hate crimes" bill.

The proposal had been the target of hundreds of thousands of letters that have been delivered to members of the U.S. Senate in opposition.

The campaign to defeat the proposal generated more than 625,000 individual letters sent by Fed Ex to all 100 U.S. senators. The effort, organized by WND columnist Janet Porter, who also heads the Faith2Action Christian ministry, permitted activists to send individually addressed letters to all 100 senators over their own "signature" for only $10.95. The campaign has now ended.

Richard Land, of the Southern Baptist Convention, has said such a law – by definition – requires judges to determine what those accused of crimes were thinking.

"This could create a chilling effect on religious speech, connecting innocent expression of religious belief to acts of violence against individuals afforded special protections," he wrote. "The criminalization of religious speech, such as speech against the practice of homosexuality, has already been seen in other countries with similar hate crimes legislation in place."

Radio talk icon Rush Limbaugh has warned his audience about the advancing threat of "hate crimes" laws.

"Some people are going to be put in jail for things that they say," he said. "Hate crime legislation. That's where they determine what's in your mind when you commit a crime. That's when they decide what you were thinking … If you were thinking unapproved thoughts, that would make the crime you committed even worse."

Sources working with senators opposing the legislation say the letter campaign has shaken up the dynamics of the debate.

"This bill was supposed to sail through the Senate, but it suddenly has become much more controversial as a result of all these letters," one source said.

As WND has reported, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 would provide special protections to homosexual people but leave Christian ministers open to prosecution should their teachings be linked to any subsequent offense, by anyone, against a homosexual person.

Gohmert and King said the only chance to defeat the legislation was for a massive outpouring of opposition from the American people.

Part of the FedEx campaign of letters from citizens opposing the "hate crimes" bill.

"If you guys don't raise enough stink there's no chance of stopping it," Gohmert said on a radio program with Porter. "It's entirely in the hands of your listeners and people across the country. If you guys put up a strong enough fight, that will give backbone enough to the 41 or 42 in the Senate to say we don't want to have our names on that."

An analysis by Shawn D. Akers, policy analyst with Liberty Counsel said the proposal, formally known as H.R. 1913, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act bill in the House and S. 909 in the Senate, would create new federal penalties against those whose "victims" were chosen based on an "actual or perceived ... sexual orientation, gender identity."

Gohmert said the foundational problem with the bill is that it is based on lies: It assumes there's an epidemic of crimes in the United States – especially actions that cross state lines – that is targeting those alternative sexual lifestyles.

"When you base a law on lies, you're going to have a bad law," he said. "This 'Pedophilia Protection Act,' a 'hate crimes' bill, is based on the representation that there's a epidemic of crimes based on bias and prejudice. It turns out there are fewer crimes now than there were 10 years ago."

He said he fought in committee and in the House to correct some of the failings, including his repeated requests for definitions in the bill for terms such as "sexual orientation."

Majority Democrats refused, he said. He said that leaves the definition up to a standard definition in the medical field, which includes hundreds of "philias" and "isms" that would be protected.

Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fla., a "hate crimes" supporter, confirmed that worry, saying: "This bill addresses our resolve to end violence based on prejudice and to guarantee that all Americans regardless of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability or all of these 'philias' and fetishes and 'ism's' that were put forward need not live in fear because of who they are. I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this rule…"

President Obama, supported strongly during his campaign by homosexual advocates, appears ready to respond to their desires.

"I urge members on both sides of the aisle to act on this important civil rights issue by passing this legislation to protect all of our citizens from violent acts of intolerance," he said.

But Gohmert pointed out that if an exhibitionist flashes a woman, and she responds by slapping him with her purse, he has probably committed a misdemeanor while she has committed a federal felony hate crime.

"That's how ludicrous this situation is," Gohmert said.

Republicans in the House also attempted to amend the bill to offer hate crimes protection for U.S. military veterans who were attacked because of their service. Democrats unanimously rejected the amendment.

So far, several senators have expressed distrust of the proposal. Sen. James Inhofe said, "I am opposed to any sort of violent offense and believe that a crime motivated by prejudice or hate is particularly reprehensible. However, I think that the provisions in H.R. 1913 and S.909 are unnecessary and constitutionally questionable."

Other opposition has come from Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla.; Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga.; and Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C.

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