Rep. Devlin Advocates for Strong Hate Crimes Legislation

From CT House Republicans: A bi-partisan proposal in the House of Representatives that makes the commission of a hate crime a felony and increases potential penalties upon a conviction was strongly supported by State Rep. Laura Devlin (R-134)

“No Connecticut citizen or group of citizens should live in fear of threats. This proposal which enhances penalties for committing these types of threats will send a stern message that Connecticut will not tolerate these hateful crimes,” said Rep. Devlin.

The legislation, House Bill 5743, makes the commission of a hate crime a felony and increases potential penalties upon a conviction. The bill also makes violence and threats based on gender prosecutable as a hate crime and make threats against houses of worship or other religious facilities a more serious felony charge.

This bill makes several changes to the hate crime laws:

• Imposes minimum fines for certain hate crimes, including deprivation of rights; desecration of property; cross burning; and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd degree intimidation based on bigotry or bias
• Enhances the penalty for desecration of a house of religious worship
• Increases the penalty for 1st and 2nd degree threatening when the threat affects a house of worship, religiously-affiliated community center, or day care center
• Increases, from a class A misdemeanor to a class E felony, the penalty for 3rd degree intimidation based on bigotry or bias
• Allows the court, as a condition of probation or conditional release, to require hate-crime offenders to participate in certain programs
• Replaces the Hate Crimes Advisory Committee with a new State-Wide Hate Crimes Advisory Council within the Office of the Chief State's Attorney
• Requires the Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection (DESPP) commissioner to establish a toll-free hotline to receive and respond to text messages and telephone calls from people reporting hate crimes
• Provides employment protection for certain employees who are absent from work up to 16 hours per year due to closure of a day care center or school due to hate crime threat

The Jewish Federation Association of Connecticut and the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities expressed support for the legislation.

Earlier this year, bomb threats were called in to multiple Jewish Community Centers across the country, including many of the centers in Connecticut.

Photo courtesy of CT House Republicans