GovTrack’s Bill Summary
We don’t have a summary available yet.
S. 909 (111th): Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act
- Introduced:
- Apr 28, 2009 (111th Congress, 2009–2010)
- Sponsor:
- Sen. Edward “Ted” Kennedy [D-MA]
- Status:
- Died (Referred to Committee)
The bill’s title was written by the bill’s sponsor. S. stands for Senate bill.
Library of Congress Summary
The summary below was written by the Congressional Research Service, which is a nonpartisan division of the Library of Congress.
4/28/2009--Introduced.
Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act - Adopts the definition of "hate crime" as set forth in the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (i.e., a crime in which the defendant intentionally selects a victim or, in the case of a property crime, the property that is the object of the crime because of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender, disability, or sexual orientation of any person).
Authorizes the Attorney General to:
(1) provide state, local, or tribal law enforcement agencies with technical, forensic, prosecutorial, or other assistance in the investigation or prosecution of violent crimes and hate crimes; and
(2) award grants to assist such agencies with the extraordinary expenses associated with the investigation and prosecution of hate crimes.
Authorizes the Office of Justice Programs to award grants to state, local, or tribal programs designed to combat hate crimes committed by juveniles.
Authorizes appropriations to the Department of Justice (DOJ), including the Community Relations Service, for FY2010-FY2012 to prevent and respond to hate crime acts.
Amends the federal criminal code to prohibit willfully causing bodily injury to any person because of the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability of such person.
Amends the Hate Crimes Statistics Act to expand data collection and reporting requirements under such Act to include:
(1) crimes manifesting prejudice based on gender and gender identity; and
(2) hate crimes committed by and against juveniles.
Declares that nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit the exercise of constitutionally-protected free speech.
House Republican Conference Summary
The summary below was written by the House Republican Conference, which is the caucus of Republicans in the House of Representatives.
No summary available.
House Democratic Caucus Summary
The House Democratic Caucus does not provide summaries of bills.
So, yes, we display the House Republican Conference’s summaries when available even if we do not have a Democratic summary available. That’s because we feel it is better to give you as much information as possible, even if we cannot provide every viewpoint.
We’ll be looking for a source of summaries from the other side in the meanwhile.
The bill contains the following citations to other parts of U.S. law:
United States Code
The United States Code is the compilation of permanent laws enacted by Congress. Temporary and other non-permanent laws do not appear in the United States Code. (About half of the United States Code is the law itself, called positive law. The other half is merely a compilation of the laws but has no legal significance.)
- Title 18: CRIMES AND CRIMINAL PROCEDURE
- Part I: CRIMES
- Chapter 13: CIVIL RIGHTS
- Section 249: Hate crime acts
- Title 28: JUDICIARY AND JUDICIAL PROCEDURE
- Part II: DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
- Chapter 33: FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
- Section 534: Acquisition, preservation, and exchange of identification records and information; appointment of officials
- Part III: COURT OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES
- Chapter 58: UNITED STATES SENTENCING COMMISSION
- Section 994: Duties of the Commission
Other Citations
- 18 U.S.C. Chapter 13