Utah hate-crimes
bill being revised

A bill that would change the way Utah punishes hate crimes is undergoing major revisions as the bill's sponsor works to hammer out a compromise with another lawmaker. Sponsored by Democratic representative David Litvack, House Bill 90 was set for a debate by the state's full house of representatives in Salt Lake City late Wednesday. Instead, it got hung up as Republican representative LaVar Christensen rushed to finish drafting a substitute. Christensen, a longtime opponent of Litvack's hate-crimes bill proposals--this is Litvack's sixth--thinks the state's existing law, which prosecutors have said is unenforceable, needs only a minor tweak. Litvack's current bill would direct judges and the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole to consider evidence of bias or hatred in the selection of a victim when they are sentencing convicted offenders or considering parole for an offender. Neither representative would offer any details of the compromise bill they are now drafting together, although Christensen said the new bill will seek to balance his concerns with Litvack's intentions. Utah law does not technically have a hate-crimes statute, even though it is titled "penalties for hate crimes." The current law is instead a civil rights statute that requires prosecutors to prove that a victim's civil rights, such as voting or attending school, were interrupted by the commission of the crime. Statistics kept by Utah law enforcement dating back to 1998 show the state averages 66 hate crimes a year. In the past, Litvack and others have sought to enhance the penalties for hate crimes by raising the punishment for crimes by one step if bias or prejudice in victim selection could be proved. That approach consistently failed because it included a list of characteristics for which people are typically targeted in bias crimes. Among them was "sexual orientation," which house members would not support because they claimed it would create special rights for gay people. (AP)