Polls & Research

Most Americans Support Hate Crime Laws

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - A majority of people in the United States agrees with a legal concept allowing for the prosecution of offenders whose crimes are driven by hatred of a particular group, according to a poll by Gallup released by USA Today. 78 per cent of respondents favour hate crime laws related to a victim's race, colour, religion or national origin.

American voters renewed the House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate in November 2006. In January, the Democratic Party took control of the lower house for the first time since 1994, with 233 lawmakers. A victory for the Democratic candidates for the Senate in Montana and Virginia also gave the party a majority in the upper house. Democratic California congresswoman Nancy Pelosi became the first female speaker of the House.

On May 3, the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act was approved by the House of Representatives in a 237-180 vote. The bill seeks to extend existing hate crime legislation to offences committed on the basis of the victim's gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity. 68 per cent of respondents support this measure.

Democratic Michigan congressman John Conyers expressed satisfaction, saying, "It is long past time that Congress updated its law to ban these atrocities. (...) We ought to make it clear that it's a federal crime to drag a man to his death because of his race or hang a man because he is gay."

Republican Texas congressman Louie Gohmert expressed concern about the possibility of religious leaders being accused of "aiding and abetting" a hate crime, if they counsel against homosexuality.

The office of U.S. president George W. Bush issued a statement following the House vote, stating that the bill is "unnecessary and constitutionally questionable" and that senior presidential advisers would recommend a veto.

Polling Data

Now, thinking about what have been called "hate crimes"—those crimes committed because the criminal hates the group of people to which the victim belongs. As you may know, federal law currently allows prosecution of hate crimes committed on the basis of the victim's race, colour, religion or national origin. Do you favour or oppose these laws?

There is a proposal to expand federal hate crime laws to include crimes committed on the basis of the victim's gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity. Would you favour or oppose expanding the federal hate crime laws in this way?