This week, the FBI released its 2019 Hate Crime Statistics. According to the Report, of the 7,103 single-bias incidents, 19.9% of the offenses, and 21.4% of the incidents, were motivated by religious bias. Of the offenses motivated by religious bias: 60.3% were anti-Jewish; 13.3% percent were anti-Islamic (Muslim); 4.0% were anti-Catholic; 3.6% were anti-Other Christian; 3.0% were anti-Sikh; 2.8% were anti-Eastern Orthodox (Russian, Greek, Other); 2.5 percent were anti-multiple religions; 1.5% were anti-Protestant; 0.8% were anti-Mormon; 0.4% were anti-Hindu; 0.4% were anti-Jehovah’s Witness; 0.4% were anti-Atheism/Agnosticism; 0.3% were anti-Buddhist. The prior year's report showed 20.2% of the offenses motivated by religious bias. (See prior posting.) ADL issued a press release commenting on the Report, as did Muslim Advocates.
Objective coverage of church-state and religious liberty developments, with extensive links to primary sources.
Thursday, November 19, 2020
FBI Releases 2019 Hate Crime Statistics
Tuesday, October 27, 2020
Court Refuses To Dismiss Indictment In Tree of Life Synagogue Case
In United States v. Bowers, (WD PA, Oct. 15, 2020), a Pennsylvania federal district court refused to dismiss an indictment under the federal Hate Crimes Prevention Act and the Church Arson Act brought against defendant charged in the 2018 attack on Pittsburgh's Tree of Life Synagogue. (Full text of Superseding Indictment.) The court rejected both the facial and the as-applied challenge to the Hate Crimes Act. The court said in part:
Each federal court to have considered the constitutionality of § 249(a)(1) has found it to be a valid exercise of Congressional power under the Thirteenth Amendment....
[T]he congressional intent behind §249(a)(1) makes clear that Congress intended to prohibit violence on the basis of real or perceived religions that “were regarded as races at the time of the adoption of the [Reconstruction] amendments.”... [T]herefore ... §249(a)(1) includes protection for Jewish people in that they were considered a distinct race when the Thirteenth Amendment was-applied.
Upholding the constitutionality of the Church Arson Act against a facial attack, the court said in part:
Congress had a rational basis to conclude that the conduct regulated by § 247 substantially affects interstate commerce.
Responding to defendant's as-applied challenge, the court said in part:
The Defendant’s as-applied challenge requires consideration of a developed factual record and the application of the statute to those facts. Thus, it is premature to determine the as-applied issue at this time.
Wednesday, June 24, 2020
Georgia Enacts Hate Crime Law
Friday, May 01, 2020
Court Upholds Maryland Hate Crime Statute
Appellant may have had a First Amendment right to spray paint on his own property the offensive words and symbols used here. Once he combined that action with a criminal act, however, in this case defacing property of another, his criminal activity was not protected by the First Amendment.
Thursday, March 19, 2020
Maryland Amends Hate Crime Law
Thursday, February 13, 2020
Suit Seeks Data On Anti-Semitic Hate Crimes In New York
Tuesday, December 31, 2019
Hate Crime Charges Filed In Hanukkah Stabbing Spree
Tuesday, November 12, 2019
FBI Releases 2018 Hate Crime Statistics
It is unacceptable that Jews and Jewish institutions continue to be at the center of religion-based hate crime attacks.... We strongly urge Congress to immediately pass the Khalid Jabara and Heather Heyer National Opposition to Hate, Assault, and Threats to Equality (NO HATE) Act.
Tuesday, November 05, 2019
Hate Crime Charges Filed In Plot To Bomb Synagogue
Richard Holzer, 27, of Pueblo, Colorado, was charged by criminal complaint with intentionally attempting to obstruct persons in the enjoyment of their free exercise of religious beliefs, through force and the attempted use of explosives and fire, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 247.
According to the affidavit in support of the criminal complaint, Holzer planned to destroy Temple Emanuel, a synagogue in Pueblo, Colorado, that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. After visiting Temple Emanuel and observing Jewish congregants, Holzer, who self-identifies as a skinhead and a white supremacist, told undercover FBI agents that he wanted to do something that would tell Jewish people in the community that they are not welcome in Pueblo, and they should leave or they will die. The affidavit states that during a meeting with the undercover agents, Holzer repeatedly expressed his hatred of Jewish people and his support for RAHOWA, shorthand for a racial holy war. Holzer went on to suggest using explosive devices to destroy the Synagogue and “get that place off the map.” The affidavit notes that Holzer’s actions meet the federal definition of domestic terrorism in that his actions involve criminal acts dangerous to human life that are intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population.
Thursday, July 11, 2019
Man Sentenced To 30 Months For Religiously Motivated Hate Crime
Wednesday, June 26, 2019
Workplace Hate Crime Meets Commerce Clause Threshold
[W]hen Congress may regulate an economic or commercial activity, it also may regulate violent conduct that interferes with or affects that activity.Judge Agee dissented, arguing:
To allow Congress to exercise its Commerce Clause power over the noneconomic offense of a bias-motived punch would allow Congress to exercise its Commerce Clause power based on such indirect—and often, as here, non-existent—connection to commerce that it converts the Clause into a federal police power.
Tuesday, April 09, 2019
House Holds Hearing On Hate Crimes and White Nationalism
Wednesday, April 03, 2019
Utah Enacts Hate Crimes Law
Tuesday, December 04, 2018
Guidance On Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Published By European Commission
Wednesday, November 14, 2018
FBI Releases 2017 Hate Crimes Report
Wednesday, October 31, 2018
Bodies of Pittsburgh Shooting Victims Handled According To Religious Law
All night long, Jewish volunteers stood solemnly in the rain outside the Tree of Life synagogue, where 11 dead bodies lay inside, sealed off with yellow crime-scene tape. The deceased were not supposed to be left alone, according to Jewish tradition, from the moment of death until burial. So when the medical examiner removed the bodies at 5 a.m. Sunday, the volunteers were there to escort them to the morgue....
Once homicide investigators give them the all clear, they intend to meticulously clean the crime scene. They consider everything left behind to be sacred remains, to be preserved and buried with the bodies....
Although autopsies are generally avoided in Jewish tradition, there was no doubt that each of the bodies would need to be examined for evidence in the criminal case. Once the bodies were with the medical examiner, Mr. Wasserman [head of the burial society] ensured that a shomer, as the guard is called in Hebrew, was in the building to keep watch over them as they went through the process.[Thanks to Steven H. Sholk for the lead.]
Tuesday, October 30, 2018
DOJ Expands Hate Crime Resources
Wednesday, October 17, 2018
Reported Hate Crimes In England and Wales Show Increase
Monday, May 14, 2018
Civil Rights Commission Holds Hate Crimes Briefing
The Commission will examine best practices for local law enforcement on collecting and reporting data, and the role of the Education and Justice Departments in prosecution and prevention of these heinous acts. Commissioners will hear from local law enforcement and federal government officials, experts, academics, advocates, and survivors of hate.Video of the day-long briefing is available online: (Morning Session; Afternoon Session; Public Comment). [Thanks to Michael Lieberman for the lead.]
Wednesday, March 21, 2018
Scottish Court Convicts For Anti-Semitic YouTube Video
My girlfriend is always ranting and raving about how cute and adorable her wee dog is, so I thought I would turn him into the least cute thing I could think of, which is a Nazi.The Sheriff's Court judge however ruled:
The accused knew that the material was offensive and knew why it was offensive. He would have known it was grossly offensive to many Jewish people.Sentencing in the case is scheduled for April 23.