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Democratic State Senator Proposes Hate Crimes Bill

By Brandon Smith

Posted August 9, 2016

Indiana is one of only five states in the country without any bias or hate crime language in its laws. A Democratic state senator wants to change that, proposing a bill that goes further than a failed proposal from the 2016 session.

Legislation this past session that cleared the Senate but stalled in the House would have allowed judges to increase penalties if a person committed a crime based in part because of the victim's characteristics -- such as their race, religion, or sexual orientation. Senator Greg Taylor's, D-Indianapolis, proposed legislation would create an automatic enhancement – making misdemeanors felonies and raising each felony one level. Taylor says the state should acknowledge that some crimes are more heinous:

"If someone were to spray paint a swastika on a Jewish church, nobody would say ‘Hey that's just vandalism,'" Taylor says. "That's hatred and we need to recognize it."

Taylor's proposal also includes training for police on how to recognize and investigate bias crimes. Taylor has proposed similar legislation in the past without success. Many Republicans – including, notably, the chairman of the House Courts and Criminal Code committee – oppose bias crime legislation. The legislation will likely face stiff resistance in the General Assembly:

State Senator Jim Merritt, R-Indianapolis, last week proposed a similar bill – but his focuses solely on crimes committed against off-duty law enforcement officers. Asked if he'd support a broader bias crimes bill, Merritt says the focus this year should remain on protecting police.

"Primarily because they are our finest and they are special," Merritt says.

But Taylor says his bill and Merritt's proposal aren't mutually exclusive.

"For us to say that one individual group is bigger than another – it's just not right," Taylor says.

Taylor says he's reached out to Merritt in the hopes of combining the two bills.

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