The New York State Senate approved yesterday and sent to the State Assembly a bill to outlaw racial and religious slurs by hate groups and political extremists and a measure to ban the wearing of Nazi-style uniforms in New York. The bills will become law after approval by the Assembly and by Governor Rockefeller.
The group libel bill, which is backed by the Jewish War Veterans, would prohibit publication of slanderous statements about any racial, religious or ethnic group with penalties of one year in jail or $1, 000 fines. Sponsors said the bill was aimed at material from neo-Nazi groups urging genocide against Jews and Negroes. The sponsors said such measures had been made into law in five other states, tested in the courts and held to be constitutional.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
