Morris News Service
COLUMBIA --- The middle of a recession may be an unlikely time to tackle hate-crime legislation in South Carolina, but advocates of a bill to increase penalties for assaulting the homeless say now is the time.
In May, Rep. Wendell Gilliard, a Charleston Democrat, introduced a bill that would make the attack on a homeless person a hate crime punishable by up to one year in prison for a second offense -- on top of the underlying penalty for assault.
Comprehensive hate-crime legislation in South Carolina has died year after year.
But Rep. Seth Whipper, a co-sponsor of Mr. Gilliard's bill, said the changing makeup of the General Assembly could make this year different and lead to incremental steps to include other groups under hate-crime protection.
South Carolina had 127 hate crimes in 2007, nearly tripling from 2000, according to the FBI's annual hate crimes statistics report. The data includes crimes in which the victim was targeted because of race, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity/national origin and disability.
Federal law defines a hate crime as one in which the victim was singled out because of race, color, religion or national origin.
Greg Foster, the spokesman for the speaker of the House, said he was unfamiliar with Mr. Gilliard's bill.
"I can tell you that when session starts in January our number one focus needs to be the economy," Mr. Foster said. "Having the third-worst unemployment rate in the country is simply not acceptable."
But Mr. Whipper said the recession underscores the need for South Carolina to foster a warm climate for diversity in order to compete globally.
"No one should be victimized based on some characteristics that the Lord gave them or some circumstances they could not avoid," he said.
South Carolina, Georgia, Indiana, Arkansas and Wyoming are the only states that have no hate-crime legislation, according to the Human Rights Campaign.
