I'm pretty sure why Specter is a co-sponsor of a law that would prevent a lot of 'hate' speech directed at him right now. I wonder if Collins and Snowe will jump off the bridge just because Arlen did. Mom?Obama urges passage as Kennedy introduces hate crimes bill in Senate
As U.S. House lawmakers made preparations Tuesday for a floor vote on hate crimes legislation, Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) introduced similar legislation in the Senate.
The new Senate bill, called the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act, is named after a gay college student who was murdered near Laramie, Wyo., in 1998 because of his sexual orientation. Like the House bill, it would enable the Justice Department to prosecute hate crimes committed against LGBT people.
In a statement Tuesday, Kennedy said the legislation is "long overdue" and "hate crimes are especially poisonous."
"They are acts of domestic terrorism that target whole communities, not just individuals," he said. "This bill will bring greater protection to our citizens and much-needed resources for state and local law enforcement to fight these vicious crimes."
Other sponsors of the Senate bill include Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Arlen Specter (D-Pa.). A Senate Judiciary Committee spokesperson said she didn't know when the committee would take up the legislation.
I do not believe the personnel in our court systems are sophisticated enough, including jurors, to understand how this law would be able to be spun to further take away our rights and to alter our culture in the direction the supporters want it to go. They ain't jabbering about traditional values.
This bad legislation. This is a bad idea. We have a Constitution that addresses this issue and this law will eventually lead to the First Amendment becoming completely illegal.
No free expression, no religion. How Robespierre. The state will be the only religion.
