Sadly, Shepard's horrible murder last October served as the impetus to finally get some committee action on my legislation. But, we made significant progress, although it may have been a kneejerk reaction to a horrible, senseless murder. Additionally, Gov. Ridge came out with the statement that if either or both bills reach his desk, he will sign them. Now we must keep the momentum going. That's why Sen. Conti and I are here today.
Hate crimes are inhuman.
No Pennsylvanian should live in an atmosphere of threats and intimidation, especially when legislative action can be taken to help remedy these types of atrocities. The way to stop these attacks is to increase the penalties for those who would commit such vile acts. As in Wyoming, Pennsylvania continues to exclude sexual orientation hate crimes from our ethnic intimidation law. We are one of 41 states that has enhanced punishments for hate crimes, such as those motivated by race, color, religion and national origin. However, we lag behind 21 of our sister states in not including crimes motivated by the actual or perceived sexual orientation of the victim.