Logan hails Senate passage of hate crime bill he co-sponsored

State Sen. George S. Logan 

HARTFORD - State Sen. George S. Logan, R-Ansonia, applauded the state Senate’s unanimous passage Tuesday of a comprehensive bill aimed at strengthening Connecticut’s hate crime laws, making them the strongest in the nation. 

Logan is a co-sponsor of the legislation, which now heads to the governor for his signature.

“As Republicans and Democrats, we stand united in the face of hate,” Logan said.  

“This legislation sends a strong message that Connecticut has zero tolerance for hate crimes. Our laws will soon be a model for the rest of the country.”

Over the last year, the United States has endured incidents of hate including murders, assaults, bomb threats and vandalism that have been directed against African-Americans, Hindu-Americans, Hispanics, Jews, Muslims, Sikh-Americans, transgender women, and others.

  

House Bill 5743, An Act Concerning Hate Crimes:

• Strengthens hate crime laws by increasing penalties, making it a felony (instead of a misdemeanor) for committing a hate crime against a group of persons (instead of a specific individual.)
• Strengthens and modernizes Connecticut’s hate crime laws to include hate crimes based on gender (sex). Current law protects only “gender identity or expression,” not gender.
• Strengthens hate crime laws by increasing the penalty to a Class C felony (from a Class D felony) for making a bomb threat or other threat of violence against a house of worship, religious community center or other religious institution—or any daycare facility—if the threat is made with the intent to terrorize another person or to cause the evacuation of the building or grounds. This puts the penalty for such bomb threats on par with threats made against schools.
• Strengthens hate crime laws by increasing the penalty for desecrating any house of worship or any religious cemetery from a Class A misdemeanor to a Class C felony if there is more than $10,000 in damage, or a Class D felony if there is less than $10,000 in damage.
• Strengthens hate crime laws by expanding the threshold for a 1st-degree hate crime from its current requirement of causing “serious physical injury” to instead causing “physical injury.”
• Establishes a court’s power to order extensive, relevant community service and/or restitution, in addition to any other penalties imposed for hate crime convictions.
• Establishes a mandatory minimum fine of $1,000 for individuals convicted of hate crimes.

Logan (www.SenatorGeorgeLogan.com) represents Ansonia, Beacon Falls, Bethany, and Derby; and parts of Hamden, Naugatuck and Woodbridge. He can be reached at George.Logan@cga.ct.gov and at 800-842-1421.

This is a press release from Logan's office.