Pa. hate-crime protections weakened

HARRISBURG - Victims of hate crimes who are gay, female or disabled no longer have special protections under state law.

The state Supreme Court has upheld a lower-court ruling striking down the 2002 expansion of the Ethnic Intimidation Act that covered sexual orientation, gender identity, and physical or mental disability.

In a unanimous decision, the court affirmed a 2007 Commonwealth Court ruling that the Legislature unlawfully inserted the hate-crime language into an unrelated agricultural-terrorism bill.

Michael Marcavage, founder and leader of a Lansdowne-based Christian evangelical group and one of the plaintiffs in the case, called Wednesday's ruling a "victory for constitutional government."

Stephen A. Glassman, chairman of the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission and one of the activists who pushed for the 2002 amendment, said he was disappointed in the ruling because the amendment was an "extremely important piece of legislation."

"This diminishes not only the strength of the law, but the quality of life in the commonwealth," said Glassman, the first openly gay state commission chairman in Pennsylvania history.

Gov. Rendell, through a spokesman, urged the Legislature to reinstate the statute immediately.

"Removing protections from any class of people does not seem to fit any categories of equal protection," said Rendell's press secretary, Chuck Ardo.

Marcavage was among those who sued after being arrested in 2004 for picketing a Philadelphia street festival for gays and lesbians and preaching that homosexuality is a sin.

In their suit, Repent America members argued that the amendment was inserted into a completely unrelated bill that dealt with penalties for crimes involving the destruction of agricultural crops. Under the constitution, a bill cannot be changed to alter its original purpose and intent.

Marcavage said that although the ruling was based on the illegality of the legislative process, he still believes hate-crimes laws are unconstitutional.

"We all deserve the same protection under the law," he said. "We have laws for people who harm other people."

Stacey Sobel, executive director of Equality Advocates Pennsylvania, who helped draft the amendments to the hate-crimes law, said the original 1985 law "covers people who are attacked for their religious beliefs." Sobel added that about 31 states have hate-crimes laws that include at least sexual orientation.

Advocates of the expanded hate-crimes bill said they added the amendment to the agricultural legislation because they had no other choice: The original legislation that contained the amendment was bottled in a legislative committee, whose chair refused to release the legislation to the floor for a vote.

"There wasn't much we could do to get it released from committee, so we had to find another way to bring it to a vote," said Alan Kukovich, a former Democratic senator from western Pennsylvania who was a major supporter of the amendments.

There were 19 "bias" crimes against gay and lesbian individuals in 2006, according to the Pennsylvania State Police annual crime report. Sobel said it would be impossible to know exactly how many cases were prosecuted because many hate crimes are not reported as such by law enforcement. But in the last year, she said, 18 people who claimed they were victims of hate crimes have contacted her organization for help.

She said she hopes the Legislature will act swiftly to pass legislation that covers the groups stripped out of bill.

Sen. Stewart J. Greenleaf (R., Bucks), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said his committee will have to review Commonwealth Court's decision.

"Also, all constitutional implications involved, including freedom of speech, must be fully understood," he said.