Hate-crimes bill gathers steam in Utah
SALT LAKE CITY – Police and prosecutors gathered on Capitol Hill to support a hate crimes bill set to debut before a Senate committee today.
The bill would boost penalties for crimes motivated by bias or prejudice when a victim is selected based on the person’s membership in a group.
The state now has a hate crimes law, but in order for it to be applied, a person is required to prove their civil rights were violated. About 62 hate crimes are reported annually in Utah, but the existing law has rarely been used.
The bill trips up each year on the list of attributes – age, ancestry, color, disability, gender, national origin, race, religion and sexual orientation – included in defining bias and prejudice.
Many conservative lawmakers shy away from the list because it includes sexual orientation, which they believe is a sin. Some had said in the past they fear supporting the bill gives their constituents the perception that they are endorsing homosexuality in some way.
Boise artist Mark Bangerter knows something the power of perception and the problems that can arise from them.
In 1998, Bangerter, the son of the former Republican Sen. Jack Bangerter, was nearly beaten to death in Boise by someone who saw Bangerter hug another man and then assumed Bangerter, 53, was gay. He is not, Bangerter said.
“He called me faggot and all different kinds of names. He beat me so severely that it popped my left eye out of my head and crushed my sinus,” said Bangerter, who was left blind in his left eye. “I’m told that as he was leaving he was yelling that he would come back and kill me.”
Bangerter, who is also related to former Gov. Norm Bangerter and is a cousin of Thomas Monson of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was in Salt Lake City on Friday talking to lawmakers and Gov. Jon Huntsman about the need for a hate crimes bill.
“I think it would help victims,” he said, adding he gave testimony to the U.S. Congress a few years ago. “It also sends a message to criminals. I’d say give some consideration by keeping these guys in prison longer. This fellow who hurt me is a menace to society.”
Bangerter’s assailant, finally caught about two years later, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and is serving a 7- to 15-year sentenced in an Idaho prison. He will be up for parole next year, however, Bangerter said.
Like Utah, Idaho has no hate crimes statue that would have delayed parole or at least increased the length of the man’s sentence, Bangerter said. He says his story was well received, and hopes the Utah Senate will take action on the bill.
“I never had any idea that anyone could just lash out like that at someone they didn’t know because they thought the represented a certain group of some kind. It’s crazy,” said Bangerter, who was forced to give up his work as a fine art painter because of his injuries. “I think when some little white boy from Davis County can get beat up for a hate crime, or what should be considered a hate crime, it hits home.”