Clinton Orders Review of U.S. Hate Crime Laws

WASHINGTON —  Responding to soaring levels of bigotry-motivated violence, President Clinton on Saturday ordered the Justice Department to review all U.S. laws on hate crimes.

The White House will also convene a conference this fall of law enforcement officials, members of Congress and hate-crime victims in order to explore ways of dealing with intolerance, from the burning of black churches to attacks on gays and Jews, Clinton announced in his weekly radio address.

The forces of hatred, Clinton said, are “one of America’s greatest challenges.” The world’s most diverse democracy must strive to conquer divisions over race, ethnicity, religion and sexual orientation “so that we can move forward into the 21st century as one America,” he said.

“It is time for us to mount an all-out assault on hate crimes, to punish them swiftly and severely, and to do more to prevent them from happening in the first place,” he added.

“Such hate crimes, committed solely because the victims have a different skin color or a different faith or are gays or lesbians, leave deep scars, not only on the victims but on their larger community,” Clinton said. He called hate crimes acts of violence “against America itself.”

Clinton’s action on the issue comes amid growing pressure from civil rights groups and recent data reflecting alarming trends in the 1990s. The FBI reported almost 8,000 hate crimes in 1995, an increase of 42% since 1991, Clinton said.

The president’s moves are the first in what is expected to be a more aggressive administration campaign to confront racism. Visiting California this week, Clinton is expected to speak on ways of bridging America’s racial and ethnic chasm.

Among the initiatives he is expected to announce Saturday in his commencement address to students at UC San Diego is a presidential advisory board on race relations to launch a “national dialogue” in town hall meetings across the country.

“To truly move forward as one community, it is just not enough to prevent acts of violence to our bodies. We must prevent acts of violence to our spirits,” the president said in his radio address.

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As the outside world moves toward a single global society and global economy, the United States will be stronger if it uses the full talents of all its people, Clinton said, adding, “our rich diversity is a powerful strength if we respect it.”

The White House conference is scheduled for Nov. 10. The president pledged that the forum would engage in a “frank and open dialogue” designed to help build “a more vigorous plan of action” to reduce hate crimes.

“Together, we will move closer to the day when acts of hatred are no longer a stain on our community and our conscience, and when the United States can prove the pledge made by the founding fathers 220 years ago that the United States is ‘one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all,’ ” he said.

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To prepare for the fall conference, Atty. Gen. Janet Reno has already launched a review of all legislation on hate crimes as well as other legal options the administration has for addressing the troubling increase in such incidents.

The president’s announcement was cautiously welcomed by civil rights groups. “Whether the exercise proves to be truly and genuinely meaningful remains to be seen, but the spirit with which President Clinton is approaching it is to be commended,” said Wade Henderson, executive director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, an umbrella group for 180 human rights groups.

The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force applauded the president for raising the level of concern and called for “a more vigorous effort” to stamp out acts of violence that “hurt our image as a nation and only separate us from one another.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

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Under the Hate Crime Statistics Act of 1990, the Justice Department tracks crimes stemming from bias based on race, religion, sexual orientation or ethnicity. The law defines hate crimes as those involving murder, non-negligent manslaughter, rape, aggravated assault, simple assault, intimidation, arson and destruction of property. States reporting the most incidents in 1995, the most recent year for which statistics are available, are:

California: 1,751

New York: 845

New Jersey: 768

Michigan: 405

Maryland: 353

Source: FBI