Commemorating the 10th anniversary of the passage of the Shepard-Byrd Hate Crimes Prevention Act & to address the need to pass the Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act civil rights groups assembled to discuss the epidemic of hate in America & tangible actions for reform. Participating were The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, The Leadership Conference Education Fund, families of Khalid Jabara & Matthew Shepard. Vanita Gupta, President & CEO of The Leadership Conference & The Education Fund stated, “Every person in our country should feel safe while going about their normal daily life—going to worship, to school, to the mall. But too many people are the victims of hate crimes & violence. The work to fight hate must be bigger than any one political party & Congress must pass the Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act.” Judy Shepard, Co-founder of the Matthew Shepard Foundation added, “Everyone in this country must be made aware of & educated on, the need to strengthen current hate crime laws & to pass additional legislation. Stopping the increase of hate speech, the rising number of hate crimes against all marginalized communities & the constant rise of new hate groups must be a top priority in this country.” The bill was named after Khalid Jabara & Heather Heyer who were both killed by men who were prosecuted for hate crimes yet their murders were not reported as such to the FBI. The Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act is bipartisan & bicameral legislation that would improve federal reporting of hate crimes to prevent similar omissions & strengthen police responses to incidents of hate.
For More Info: civilrights.org
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