Jan. 17, 2001--
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) _ A bill designed to put teeth in Utah's hate crime law met the usual opposition Wednesday and again has an uncertain future, frustrating minority advocates who have seen the measure defeated for the past four years.
"The same senators that are disagreeing today are the same ones that were arguing against it yesterday, and their arguments haven't changed," said Robert Gallegos, vice chair of the La Raza Education Committee, a Latino group.
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 4-2 to send the bill to the Senate floor for a vote, but not without a challenge by the Utah Eagle Forum, a conservative group.
"I've never had a unanimous vote on this bill, so I wasn't surprised," said Sen. Pete Suazo, D-Salt Lake City. He added that he is prepared for a fight on the Senate floor.
A similar bill has also been introduced in the House.
This year's bills are modeled after a Texas law that has been in place for 10 years. It would enhance the criminal penalties if there is evidence that hate motivated a crime against a particular group of people.
The existing law is too vague, and no state court has successfully applied the statute, Suazo said.
Suazo said that when he first proposed the bill four years ago, there were three recognized hate groups in the state. Now there are six, he said, citing the Southern Law Poverty Center.
Forty-seven states have enacted hate crime legislation. Only Utah, Idaho and Wyoming have not, he said.
"It's also of concern to me that those hate groups have centered on the West," he said.
Suazo said there were 65 reported hate crimes in Utah last year.
But Gallegos said far more are not reported. He told the committee that he never called police when someone carved "KKK" into the top of his car.
"Everyday I get in my car and I feel like they're telling me 'We're watching you,"' he said.
Gayle Ruzicka, president of the conservative Eagle Forum, was the lone opponent to speak on the bill. She asked the committee "how does this legislation affect us who take a moral position?"
She described the bill as discriminatory against white heterosexuals and worried about how groups would be defined.
After the hearing, Gallegos was outraged by her comments.
"We're talking about people being hurt and she's talking about herself being labeled a racist," he said. "She is not looking at life in a realistic world. Until she changes the color of her skin, she's not going to know what we're talking about."
(Copyright 2001 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
