And in our a nation, with its history of current reliance on violence, hatred has a way of ending in death and destruction. This amendment also permanently extended the FBI mandate to collect information on bias-motivated crimes.
Voting is an example of such a right.
In addition to the Hate Crimes Statistics Act, Congress passed the Hate Crimes Enhancement Act, a complement to state hatecrimes statutes. This law comes into play when hate crimes are committed on federal property. Yet even with this legislation it was clear that something better was needed at the federal level, particularly since fewer than a dozen indictments had been brought since passage of Title 18 USC in 1969. Although Congress failed to enact this legislation, APA supported it separately and in coalitions with other organizations. Several hate crimes have, over the last year, underscored the need for Congress to reconsider hate crimes legislation.