No law can bring back Matthew Shephard. The United States Congress can, however, honor his life, and protest his senseless, brutal murder, by enacting more potent hate crimes legislation. The Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 1998 would amend present federal law in two important ways. First, it would add crimes motivated by disability, gender, and sexual orientation bias to the list of crimes subject to federal prosecution. By removing this overly-restrictive obstacle, and by expanding the types of invidious bias that are prohibited, the proposed law would greatly enhance the federal government's ability to prosecute hate crimes.
Most states can and do prosecute hate crimes.
However, existing state laws are inadequate in scope. Plus, state laws are often woefully under enforced. The federal law would enable the United States Department of Justice to take a hard line against hate crimes in the face of recalcitrant local law enforcement officials. The law also allows individuals subjected to hate-motivated crimes to sue the perpetrators civilly, and to claim compensatory and punitive damages. Finally, Vermont's hate crimes law specifically prohibits the burning of a cross or religious symbol with the intention of terrorizing or harassing a particular person.