[Tektalkdiscussion] Fw: Mikesmess2 Obama Signs Bill Giving Disability HateCrimesProtections

[Bob Acosta]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Nancy Lynn" <freespirit52 at charter.net>
To: "Mikes Mess List" <mikesmess2 at mikesmess.com>
Sent: Saturday, October 31, 2009 12:33 PM
Subject: Re: Mikesmess2 Obama Signs Bill Giving Disability 
HateCrimesProtections


This is great news!! Thanks for letting us know.

Obama  Signs Bill Giving Disability Hate Crimes  Protections

By Michelle  Diament
October 29, 2009

President Barack Obama signed an expanded  hate crimes bill into law
Wednesday
making it a federal offense to commit a  crime against a person based on
their
disability.
Under the  new law, hate crimes protections hearkening back to 1968 will be
widened to  include crimes committed based on a persons gender, sexual
orientation, gender  identity or disability. Already federal law includes
protections for crimes  committed based on race, color, religion or national
origin.
The new law  also gives federal authorities more leeway to investigate and
prosecute  suspected hate crimes. Altogether the bill marks the largest
expansion of civil  rights protections in decades.
We must  stand against crimes that are meant not only to break bones, but to
break  spirits  not only to inflict harm, but to instill fear, Obama said
Wednesday  at a ceremony commemorating the enactment of the new law. No one
in
 America  should be forced to look over  their shoulder because of who they
are
or because they live with a  disability.
The  expanded protections were long sought, but languished for years amid
opposition  from the Bush administration and difficulty passing Congress.
Most
Republicans  in Congress voted against the bill this time around with some
saying it amounted  to thought crimes legislation.
People with  disabilities are 50 percent more likely to experience nonfatal
violent crime  than those without disabilities, according to a Justice
Department study  released in early October. Whats more, the study found
that
about one in five  crime victims with disabilities believe their disability
was
the reason they  were targeted.

Copyright  2009  Disability Scoop, LLC. All Rights Reserved. For reprints
and
permissions click   here .




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