Dave Bangert, writing for the Lafayette Journal and Courier, reports that Sen. Ron Alting will introduce SB 12-2019 concerning “bias crimes.” The bill would intent to harm or intimidate certain people as a permissible aggravator for the court to consider when sentencing. Specifically, the bill would allow a court to consider whether the offender committed the offense with the intent of harming or intimidating an individual or a group because of the individual or group’s perceived or actual race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, disability, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, political affiliation, status as a public safety officer, status as a relative of a public safety officer, service with the armed services, or “association with any recognizable group or affiliation.” The bill also adds offenses based on ancestry, gender identity, sex, political affiliation, status as a public safety officer, status as a relative of a public safety officer, and service in the armed services to the list of offenses that constitute bias crimes (renamed “bias motivated crimes”) for which law enforcement officials are required to gather statistics and report each year.
I guess I’m a little skeptical of the broad scope of “association with any recognizable group or affiliation” as a permissible aggravator for sentencing purposes, but otherwise this seems positive. The article indicates that Indiana, along with Arkansas, Georgia, South Carolina and Wyoming, are the only states without some kind of hate crimes legislation.
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