3 Black U.S. Senators Introduce Bill to Make Lynching a Federal Hate Crime
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By Sandra E. Garcia, The New York Times
Senators Cory Booker, Tim Scott and Kamala Harris introduced a bill that would make lynching a federal hate crime. A similar bill has been introduced in the House.CreditFrom left: Bryan Anselm for The New York Times; Al Drago for The New York Times; Stephen Crowley/The New York Times
The United States Senate’s three black members introduced a bill on Friday that would make lynching a federal hate crime.
The move came more than two weeks after a similar bill was introduced in the House of Representatives. Nearly 200 anti-lynching bills were introduced in Congress from 1882 to 1986. None were approved.
“This sends a very powerful message,” said Cory Booker, Democrat of New Jersey, who introduced the Senate bill along with Kamala Harris, Democrat of California, and Tim Scott, a South Carolina Republican. “Literally thousands of African-Americans were being lynched throughout history, and the Senate never stepped up to pass any legislation to stop this heinous, despicable behavior.”
Under the bill, lynching would be punishable by a sentence of up to life in prison. The measure would not preclude murder charges that can already be brought under existing law.
“In the course of a crime there can be multiple charges,” Mr. Booker said in a phone interview. “This bill will make lynching another charge on top of murder.”
Representative Leonidas Dyer of Missouri sponsored an anti-lynching bill that was thwarted by Southern Democrats in the 1920s.CreditOffice of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives
Sixteen other senators, including Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont; Kirsten Gillibrand, a New York Democrat; and Tim Kaine, Democrat of Virginia, have signed on as co-sponsors. The bill also has the support of the majority leader, Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky.
“I thought we did that many years ago,” Mr. McConnell said this month in an interview on Sirius XM. “I hadn’t thought about it, I thought that was done back during L.B.J. or some period like that,” he said…
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