ACA Celebrates Progress in the Campaign for Hate Crimes Protections for People with Disabilities

ACA Celebrates Progress in the Campaign for Hate Crimes Protections for People with Disabilities

The Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act, also known as the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crime Prevention Act (LLEHCPA) has been added to the Department of Defense Authorization bill. While there will be several amendments offered in the Senate debate on Monday, July 20th there are no other procedural obstacles and there will not be another vote on adding the Hate Crimes Prevention Act. This all but assures that this important legislation will finally pass through Congress.

The Amputee Coalition of America (ACA) signed on in support of the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crime Prevention Act (LLEHCPA) recognizing that bias against people with disabilities takes many forms, including violence.

This bill will broaden the definition of hate crimes to include disability, sexual orientation, gender and gender identity. It will grant agencies the authority to investigate and prosecute federal crimes based on the victim’s disability, whether real or perceived, and would authorize funding to states to help with the prosecution of Hate Crimes. It also makes grants available to state and local communities to combat violent crimes committed by juveniles, train law enforcement officers or to assist in state and local investigations and prosecutions of bias-motivated crimes.