The conviction rate for hate crimes as laws are currently written, hovers around 11 percent. Still, the state of Louisiana wants to expand the definition of hate crimes to include police officers and first responders in a bill that is the first of its kind.
Pushed by “Blue Lives Matter” supporters, who have adopted the nomenclature of the Black Lives Matter movement, the bill is expected to become law when Gov. John Bel Edwards, a democrat, signs it. It faced no criticism in the house and senate, but outside of those halls, the reaction has been swift. Groups like those affiliated with Black Lives Matter and long established organizations like the Anti-Defamation League have weighed in.
“The regional director of the Anti-Defamation League said it’s not wise to add occupations to hate-crime protected classes. “It’s really focused on immutable characteristics,” Allison Goodman told the Advocate. “Proving the bias intent for a hate crime for law enforcement or first responders is very different than proving it for someone who is Jewish or gay or black.”
Current Louisiana hate crime laws protect race, age, gender, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, disability, creed, sexual orientation or organizational affiliation.
To be fair, there are also opponents to hate crime bills at the state level, in general. Kathryn Sheely, a Louisiana public defender is one of those people.
“I don’t believe that hate crimes legislation works, because we never know what’s going on in someone’s head when they commit a crime. Hate crime legislation is sold as something to punish people motivated by hate and prejudice, but the legal system is really bad at discovering people’s motives,” Sheely told NBCBLK via email.
Sheely also pointed out how the law could be distorted and used against groups like Black Lives Matter, who frequently protest police departments.
“Any protest in a police station could be criminal trespass, but now it could also be a hate crime. Beyond group protest, if someone pushes away from a police officer during an arrest, she could be charged not only with a battery and battery against a police officer, she could now be charged with a hate crime,” Sheely said. “Additional charges mean higher bail, more potential jail time, and more expensive attorney fees.
In addition to these points brought up by Sheely, the motive for the creation of Blue Lives Matter and this new law associated with it, feels wrong. FBI statistics show a decline in police killings. The killing of Officer Darren Goforth in Houston, Texas, which served as the impetus for the Louisiana bill, does not appear to be motivated by hatred or a targeted killing of police. It seems more like a pushback against the civil unrest highlighting deficiencies in police culture and training that lead to the killing of unarmed citizens.
It remains to be seen if other states will employ similar expansions.
Featured image by G20, through Flickr with Creative Commons License, SA 2.0
