Sikh Coalition Works with Civil Rights Groups to Pass Hate Crimes Bill

December 14, 2004

Source: Sikhnet News

http://www.sikhnet.com/Sikhnet/news.nsf/TodaysNewsHTML/C5C14AAD9CBAFCF287256F66007C7837!OpenDocument

On December 14, 2004 Sikhnet News reported, "the hate crimes bill which has been in the works since post-9/11 may still be passed by Congress as Sikh organizations continue to work with other civil rights groups to encourage its passage. Preetmohan Singh, SALDEF National Director, told SikhNN that although the press had reported the hate crimes bill - called the Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act, proposed to expand protection to victims of hate crime, and provide financial support for state and local investigations and prosecutions of hate crimes - was defeated in Congress, it actually has not come up for a vote yet. Singh was optimistic though that the bill still may be passed by Congress in the near future... According to the FBI report 'Hate Crime Statistics 2003,' 8,715 criminal offenses were identified as being motivated by hate. Offenses based on race accounted for the highest category of bias crime at 52.5 percent. The third highest category is crimes based on religion at 16.4 percent."