The Oregon Senate Thursday passed a hate crime bill that would make the offense a felony and change the name of the charge from “intimidation’’ to bias crime.
Senate Bill 577, which Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum presented to lawmakers in March, would make a violent offense or the immediate threat of violence based on a person’s membership in a protected class a felony, and add gender identity as a protected class.
Victims who report encounters that don’t rise to a hate crime that can be prosecuted will be referred to local services, a hate crimes hotline or a hate crimes response coordinator in the state Department of Justice.
The bill also would require all police agencies to better document reports of alleged hate crimes, even if they don’t result in arrests, and share that material with the state Criminal Justice Commission. District attorneys’ offices would have to track their hate crime caseloads and report to the state who is prosecuted, who is convicted, the sentences issued and rates of recidivism.
Oregon’s 1981 intimidation statute focused on the number of people participating in a hate crime, rather than the nature of the harm done, Rosenblum told Senate Judiciary Committee members in March.
Currently, it’s a felony for two people to apply racist graffiti to a building, but a misdemeanor to attack someone based on the color of their skin, said state Sen. Lew Frederick, a Democrat from Portland.
“The bill attempts to modernize the intimidation statute and strengthen community involvement in reporting incidents,’’ Frederick said Thursday.
He said the state’s “poor understanding’’ of hate activity impedes Oregon’s ability to fight it.
The bill passed in a 26 to 0 vote, with three lawmakers excused. It now heads to the House.
The attorney general had convened a task force that began meetings last July to identify gaps in investigating hate-related crimes and support for victims.
The Joint Ways and Means Committee recommended allowing up to to $201,380 in federal grant money to support this bill in the Justice Department’s victim services division, and setting aside another $46,453 from the general fund for the victims services division. It also recommended setting aside $235,476 for the state Criminal Justice Commission.
The money will support the hiring of a hate crimes coordinator in the Justice Department, a research analyst for the state justice commission and allow for law enforcement training.
Members of Unite Oregon, Basic Rights Oregon and the Sikh Coalition, along with victims of hate crimes, gathered last week to urge the bill’s support.
-- Maxine Bernstein
Email at mbernstein@oregonian.com
Follow on Twitter @maxoregonian
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