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Justice Dept. Aids Homosexual Drive 4/16/2002 In an April 10 press conference, Attorney General John Ashcroft said that “sexual orientation” and “gender” enhancements in the law were “key” to the federal prosecution of a 1996 double murder of two lesbians in Shenandoah National Park. There is one problem. The law, 18 USC Section 1111, which gives the federal government the power to prosecute first-degree murder, does not mention “gender” or “sexual orientation.” Furthermore, the circumstances of the crime already allow the government to seek maximum sentencing up to the death penalty. “Federal law already authorizes maximum penalties in this case. There is no need for ‘thought crime’ laws,” said Robert Knight, director of the Culture and Family Institute, an affiliate of Concerned Women for America. “The killer deserves the maximum penalty for this terrible crime. But would the government be less diligent in seeking justice if the victims were straight women, or a man, or a married couple?” Knight asked. “That’s what the Justice Department appears to be saying. We fear that this apparent misrepresentation of the law is ripe for abuse by homosexual activists in their quest for ‘hate crime’ laws,” Knight said. During the 2000 Presidential campaign, President Bush said he opposed “hate crime” laws because they violate equal protection under the law by creating special categories of victims. Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Massachusetts) has introduced the “Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act,” which would expand federal power over hate crime cases and add “sexual orientation” to a list of categories of victims with special claims. Homosexual activists are already claiming that the Justice Department’s stance will aid their bid to enact the Kennedy bill. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest homosexual pressure group, “applauded Attorney General John Ashcroft and the Justice Department for invoking the Hate Crimes Sentencing Enhancement Act” and called for swift passage of a sweeping new federal “hate crimes” law. “Congress must build on this recognition and pass the Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act,” said HRC political director Winnie Stachelberg. This exchange was excerpted from Attorney General John Ashcroft’s April 10 press conference: Q: Will you now support the pending hate crime legislation in Congress? Atty Gen. Ashcroft: The pending hate crime legislation in Congress is under review in the Justice Department at this time. And pending the outcome of that review, we would make an announcement if we chose to support the legislation. Q: Are you inclined to support it? Atty Gen. Ashcroft: We’re inclined to prosecute hate crimes like this one—prosecute them to the fullest. The utilization of the sentencing enhancement procedures that relate to both gender and homosexuality in this instance are key to our ability to request the death penalty in cases like this. ”Mr. Ashcroft is wrong,” Knight said. “Federal law already covers cases like the Shenandoah murders. Nowhere in the law does ‘sexual orientation’ or ‘gender’ bias play a part. “So we have to ask, why is the Justice Department lending aid to those who would divide victims into special categories? This implies that the death penalty won’t be sought when the victims aren’t in those categories. “This is a mixed-message about murder: there is murder, and then there is ‘special’ murder, but we only ‘prosecute to the fullest’ those in the ‘special’ murder category.” |
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