Democrats and Republican Governor Eric Holcomb still want the hate crimes legislation to specifically include gender, gender identity, age, and sexual orientation in the list of protected traits.
Indiana State Rep. Randy Frye (R-Greensburg). File photo.
(Indianapolis, Ind.) - There are some Republican lawmakers in Indianapolis who just don't want to expand the state's hate crime law.
Governor Eric Holcomb is not one of them. The Republican said Monday he is glad state lawmakers passed some form of a bias crimes bill last week, even if it doesn't include the full enumerated list of human traits in the original bill.
“They need to demand a change of opinion in the legislature if they want to amend that language into this, whether it be this year or in years to come,” said Holcomb.
Senate Bill 198, if it becomes law, would allow judges to assign harsher sentences to criminals who are deemed to be motivated by a bias against a person or group.
The bill passed the House of Representatives on a 57-39 vote last week after it was amended to include race, religion and sexual orientation as biases judges could consider. However, gender, gender identity, age, and sexual orientation were left out of the amended bill.
Advocates from across the state rallied at the Statehouse on Monday, trying to convince the legislature to add sex and gender characteristics back into to the list in SB 198.
But some Republicans, including State Rep. Matt Lehman (R-Berne), said that the law they're considering is fine and will protect all Hoosiers equally.
Southeastern Indiana State Rep. Randy Frye (R-Greensburg) echoed Lehman in an interview on Eagle Country 99.3 on Monday morning. He admitted he has not been a proponent of the bias crimes bill, but believes the House amendment to SB 198 is a good compromise.
“What we did was we tied an existing code to a sentencing enhancer, thereby a judge could add additional time if someone post-conviction was deemed to have done something to try to intimidate a group of people,” said Frye.
LISTEN TO EAGLE COUNTRY 99.3'S INTERVIEW WITH STATE REP. RANDY FRYE.
Frye insists the proposal covers everybody even if a bias trait is expressly stated or not. He said it also leaves room for judges’ discretion depending on the severity of a crime.
“There’s a difference between painting graffiti on the side of a railroad car and painting a swastika on the side of a Jewish temple,” he offered as an example.
The hate crimes bill has been returned to the Senate with amendments following its House passage last week. A motion to concur was filed Monday, meaning a final vote on concurrence could happen soon.
Assuming the bill reaches Holcomb’s desk, he could attempt to veto it. The governor has not committed to vetoing the legislation if it does not contain the fuller list of protected traits.
Groups including Women4Change Indiana, which co-organized Monday's Statehouse rally with Indiana Forward, have called on Holcomb to veto.
“On the heels of the #MeToo movement and countless examples of the harassment and assault of women, it is hard to believe that a bias crimes bill passed in 2019 would exclude gender,” the organization said in a statement.
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