The Senate Corrections & Criminal Law Committee heard Sens. Ruckelshaus and Glick’s SB 439 on bias crimes, making it an aggravating circumstance for the purposes of imposing a criminal sentence that the crime was committed with the intent to harm or intimidate an individual because of certain perceived or actual characteristics of the individual.
The Committee amended the bill to add public safety officers and their relatives to the list against whom a bias crime could be committed. In support of the bill, representatives from the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office, Indianapolis Jewish Community Relations Council, Muslim Council of Indiana, Indianapolis Urban League, Arc of Indiana, Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce, Rep. Gregory W. Porter, Indiana Prosecuting Attorneys Council, United Way, Fair Housing Center, Indiana State Police Fraternal Order of Police, and the Indiana Attorney General’s Office testified in support of the bill. The American Family Association testified against the bill. The amended bill passed 6-3.
Read the bill at: http://iga.in.gov/legislative/2017/bills/senate/439