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First Case to Test the Nation?s New Hate Crimes Law

By Neil Shous, Esq.

Three defendants in New Mexico will be the first to be tried under the new federal hate crimes legislation that President Obama signed into law in October 2009. Known as The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, this hate crimes law expanded the nation?s older hate crimes law that 1) required an individual to be involved in a ?federally protected activity? (such as attending school or voting) before he/she could become the victim of a hate crime, and 2) didn?t afford hate crime protection to victims based on gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or disability. In this case, the three defendants allegedly shaped a coat hanger into a swastika, placed it on a heated stove and then branded it onto the arm of a 22-year-old mentally disabled Navajo man...continue to full post

Full post as published by California Criminal Defense Blog on December 17, 2010 (boomark / email).