Legislature(2003 - 2004)
03/23/2004 03:40 PM Senate STA
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* first hearing in first committee of referral
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+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
SB 246-HATE CRIMES/DISCRIMINATION/TOLERANCE PROG
CHAIR GARY STEVENS announced SB 246 to be up for consideration.
He recognized Senator Lincoln.
SENATOR GEORGIANNA LINCOLN, sponsor, said she would give an
overview rather than reading the sponsor statement. She stated:
Over the years this committee and others certainly
have read and heard news stories about the hate crimes
that have been committed throughout our state. The
most recent one was November 2003 regarding a
paintball attack on a young woman in Anchorage. There
are many more hate bias motivated crimes that take
place that go unreported.
Anchorage reported 67 bias hate motivated incidents
with only 17 arrests between 1998 and 2002 when they
began keeping records of hate motivated incidents.
Aggravated assaults against Alaska Natives were the
highest reported crime during that time. Juneau
Douglas High School is currently reviewing recent
racial incidents that have occurred within the school.
A hate crime is any criminal offense committed against
a person or property, which is motivated in whole or
in part by the offenders' biases against race,
religion, ethnic, national origin group, or sexual
orientation.
SB 264 was drafted according to model legislation by
the Anti Defamation League that will be speaking from
Washington D.C. Currently 46 states and the District
of Columbia have enacted laws similar to the Anti
Defamation League model.
TAPE 04-21, SIDE B
5:15 pm
The current penalty enhancement statute does not apply
to anyone found guilty of a misdemeanor or most first
time felony offenders. Those crimes are presently
excluded from enhancement and that's really a critical
part of the bill. Those crimes are now included in
this bill. As an example, a person committing a class
B misdemeanor would be elevated to face a class A
misdemeanor charge if their actions are determined to
be motivated by prejudice bias or hate. If the crime
committed is a class A misdemeanor, it would be
elevated to a class c felony and so on.
In the case of the paintball attack in 2001, which was
videotaped, one young man was charged with seven
counts of a class A misdemeanor assault. Had this bill
been enacted, that individual would have been charged
with a class C felony. It's important to note that the
majority of hate crimes reported in Alaska are
assault, intimidation, and harassment and would
therefore be misdemeanors. Thus the majority of hate
crimes are totally outside the scope of aggravating
factors already in law.
Why is there a whole new crime of motivation? It
serves merely as a sentence enhancement and
enhancements are the safest, most constitutional hate
crime laws that we've got.
This bill also adds gender to its hate crime
legislation. The inclusion of gender is important
because it sends a message that gender based crimes
also will not be tolerated. Legislators throughout the
country have realized that it is difficult to
distinguish the race based and religion based hate
crimes from gender-based crimes.
What sets the hate crimes apart from other acts of
violence is the psychological damage that they leave
behind. The American Psychological Association
determined that victims of hate crimes suffer the
symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder and that
there are social and economic ramifications to this
type of crime as well.
Of all racial groups in Alaska, Alaska Natives suffer
the highest rate of victimization. We really have to
educate those around us, those that we work with, our
young people, that we must condemn those crimes
against humanity.
If there's a way that we can prevent hatred, prevent
bias because of different races and because of
different religions then we ought to do that.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS apologized for the lateness of the hour and
noted that he and Senator Stedman had a meeting to attend in
just ten minutes. There were a number of people who wanted to
testify, but there wasn't time to hear from everyone. The bill
would be heard in the Judiciary Committee next and everyone that
wasn't able to testify would have an opportunity to speak at
that time.
SENATOR BERT STEDMAN remarked that this is a society wide
problem. He noted that the analysis on hate crimes between 1998
to 2002 shows there were 15 incidents with Blacks, 15 incidents
with Alaska Natives 3 concerning Whites, two Islamic, and three
Jewish.
MIKE LEBERMAN, Washington Counsel for the Anti Defamation
League, testified via teleconference in support of SB 246. Hate
crime statutes are very important and they compliment bias
education work. It's best to prevent these crimes before they're
committed but once they do occur, the law shapes attitudes and
to have a broad inclusive statute in Alaska would be important.
This would add sexual orientation, which is important and for
the first time the important qualifier, "actual or perceived"
would be put into Alaska law.
These statutes are unquestionably constitutional and were
ratified by the United States Supreme Court in 1993. He couldn't
speak to the sentencing scheme because different states have
different penalty structures. However, they do support the
concept and approach wholeheartedly.
NICK KOTAVICH, Tlingit Haida Youth Leadership Team
representative, spoke in support of SB 246. He is the leader of
Undoing Racism, which is comprised of the JDHS Student Council
and Tlingit Haida Youth Leadership Team. He said:
This bill, if pushed, will send a message to those who
have harassed Natives to the point of physical
violence that it will no longer be tolerated.
A boy at my school continually harassed me to the
point of physical violence because I was Native. After
beating me up, he did it to at least three other
Natives. If this bill is passed, you as Senators will
be imposing consequences that will prevent these
racial behaviors from continuing and make our state a
safer place for all youths.
NATALIE LANDRITH, staff attorney with the Native American Rights
Fund in Anchorage, spoke via teleconference in strong support of
SB 246. She said she would focus on three specific legal aspects
of the bill.
· WHY A SPECIAL LAW FOR HATE CRIMES: Each hate crime has many
victims and the aim is to terrorize a victim simply because
they are a member of a group. The result is that each
member of the group is a victim. The U.S. Department of
Justice's policy guide to hate crimes characterizes them as
a virus that quickly spreads feelings of terror and
loathing across an entire community. The psychological
impact on that group is far, wide, and lasting. They send a
powerful message to the group that they aren't wanted or
welcome.
· HOW BIG IS THIS PROBLEM: They don't know. Eighty-five
percent of the jurisdictions across the country don't
report any hate crime activity so Alaska is a small
minority that has a measurable hate crime problem. They do
know that Natives are the most likely to be affected by
hate crimes.
· DON'T HATE CRIME LAWS CONFLICT WITH FREE SPEECH: That has
been covered in previous testimony, but she wanted to add
that SB 246 does not conflict. It fits squarely within the
floor and ceiling set by the U.S. Supreme Court.
SB 246 would send a message that Alaska isn't willing to
tolerate the victimization of Natives and others. "It sends a
message to the targets of hate crimes that they are welcome and
the law will protect them. It expresses a collective belief that
Alaska is stronger when we protect all of our citizens."
DON BREMMER thanked the committee for putting him on the roster
considering the lateness of the hour but he said, it's really
the lateness of getting this kind of legislation passed that the
committee should be discussing. At some point, Natives will get
tired of waiting patiently for such legislation. He made the
point that this bill addresses the end result of what minorities
are now facing at Juneau Douglas High School and have been
facing for generations.
MR BREMMER gave members copies of his written testimony and a
copy may be found in the bill file.
BARBARA BRINK stated that she would reserve her comments until
the Judiciary Committee heard the bill.
JOSH FINK said he too would reserve his comments.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS apologized for the time constraints.
DENISE MORRIS, President of the Alaska Native Justice Center
(ANJC), stated that ANJC, through the board of directors
supports passage of SB 246. She drew attention to the fact that
as a member of the bipartisan State of Alaska Commission on
Tolerance, which was created in part as a result of the
Anchorage paint ball incident, one of the recommendations was
the passage of hate crime legislation.
Although people don't like to think about or don't know that
hate crimes occur, they do and the psychological impact on the
victims is substantial. A number of the victims of the paint
ball attack were severely traumatized when they had to give
their victim impact statements. In both the Poindexter and the
Hunter hate crime serial rapist cases in Anchorage, all the
identified victims were Alaska Native women. In fact, Alaska
Native women are 4.5 times more likely to be a homicide victim
than any other rape across the United States.
"The bill reflects our values and signals that hate crimes
motivated are especially tragic. SB 264 alone cannot eliminate
bias and hate. We cannot legislate the hearts of people, but we
should hold them accountable for their actions, especially when
those actions are motivated by prejudice, bias and hatred." It
is time for this legislation, she said.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS asked her to send her written testimony.
Celeste Hodge, Deputy Director and Community Outreach Liaison,
testified via teleconference on behalf of the Municipality of
Anchorage in support of SB 246.
She said she was president of the NAACP for over a decade and in
that capacity, she worked endlessly to combat racism. Even so,
hate crimes continue to plague the nation and are on the
increase.
She described SB 246 as important legislation and a necessary
tool to help fight the continuing problem of hate crimes against
people because of their race, religion, national origin, gender,
disability or sexual orientation. It signals that crimes
motivated by hate are especially reprehensible because they are
not merely crimes against an individual, but rather crimes
against the entire community.
I would urge passage of SB 246 as written, she said.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS asked her to send her written testimony to
the committee.
A. W. FULLENWIDER, standing committee member of the Anchorage
Equal Rights Commission, spoke as a private citizen in support
of SB 246. Hate crimes strike fear in people who have done
nothing wrong, but are members of an identifiable group. It is
the government's responsibility to ensure equal protection for
all, she asserted.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS thanked Senator Lincoln for presenting the
bill and asked if she had concluding remarks.
SENATOR LINCOLN said she was comfortable with the testimony that
was given.
CHAIR GARY STEVENS asked for a motion.
SENATOR BERT STEDMAN motioned to pass SB 246 from committee with
individual recommendations and the attached fiscal note.
There being no objection, it was so ordered.
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