In Defense of Hate Crimes Legislation

I explained the purpose and defended the validity of hate crimes legislation in a pair of posts that were published in 2009 in the Akron Law Cafe. Those posts are summarized and updated here.

First Prosecution under Matthew Shepard Act

Lila Shapiro's article in HuffPost's Gay Voices, Federal Anti-Gay Hate Crimes Law Gets First Test in Kentucky (May 23, 2012) is an outstanding and thorough summary of the Matthew Shepard Act, the arguments for and against the enactment of the law, and the Kentucky prosecution that will be its first test in court.