The Senate Judiciary Committee last week approved a “hate crimes” bill that would impose criminal penalties for damage to religious property that exceeds $10,000.
The bill passed the House of Representatives last year and is expected to reach the Senate floor after the Easter recess. It is sponsored by Rep. Dan Glickman (D-Kan.) and Sen. Howard Metzenbaum (D-Ohio).
David Brody, Washington representative of the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith, praised the measure’s exclusion of damage under $10,000. He said that it would be “ridiculous” for the measure to apply to the simple spray-painting of a swastika, because “state and local law enforcement authorities are capable of dealing with an incident of that kind which — as serious as it is — may be nothing more than a juvenile prank.”
Still pending is a bill that would require the Justice Department to gather statistics on hate crimes, sponsored by Metzenbaum and Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.).
The House Judiciary Committee approved the measure last year, but it has become controversial, because in its current form, it would require statistics to be gathered also on crimes perpetrated against lesbians and gay men.
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