Connecticut lawmakers toughen penalties for hate crimes
Connecticut lawmakers, scrambling to enact meaningful legislation in the waning days of this year's session, approved a bill they said makes the state's hate crimes laws the strongest in the nation.
The Act Concerning Hate Crimes is a response to a surge in hate crime reports across the state and country in recent months, according to Senate President Pro Tempore Martin M. Looney. Connecticut incidents include bomb threats to Jewish community centers and schools, distribution of white supremacist leaflets in four Fairfield County towns, racist graffiti painted on the Stamford home of an interracial couple, a threatening letter to the Islamic Center of New Haven and swastikas painted on homes and parked cars in January in Danbury.
Legislators from both parties applauded the bill during a news conference at noon Tuesday. The Senate convened later in the day, passing the bill 36-0 and sending it directly to be signed by Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. The state House passed the bill 146-0 on May 9.
The act increases penalties for hate crimes against groups, bomb threats against religious facilities and desecrating houses of worship by reclassifying these crimes as felonies. It includes "gender" as a protected class for the first time.
The act lowers the threshold for a first-degree hate crime to one involving any physical injury. The existing law covers only serious physical injuries. The new act also requires courts to order "extensive and relevant community service and restitution" to those convicted of hate crimes.
The act establishes a minimum fine of $1,000 for an individual convicted of hate crimes that will fund a new state police hate crimes telephone hotline and text line. It creates a statewide Hate Crimes Advisory Council that will meet at least twice a year and report annually to the Judiciary Committee.
It enables employees to take up to 16 hours of leave a year if they have to leave work due to the evacuation of their children's school or day care center due to a bomb threat or other threat of violence.
"Connecticut has always been a tolerant state," said Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, D-Norwalk. "We need to continue to show Connecticut as a beacon of tolerance through our words, actions and laws."
"It's sort of sad ... that we have to do things like this," said Senate Republican President Pro Tempore Len Fasano, R-New Haven. "Both chambers have gotten together and are going to send a message that we in Connecticut are not going to take lightly hate crimes."
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