Stop Hate Crimes Act of 2023
Latest action · Feb 17, 2023 Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedFeb 17, 2023
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Stop Hate Crimes Act of 2023
This bill lowers the statutory burden of proof for showing intent with respect to a federal hate crime offense.
Current law makes it unlawful to willfully cause bodily injury, or attempt to do so using a dangerous weapon, because of the actual or perceived protected characteristic (e.g., race) of a person. In 2014, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit held that the because of standard requires proof that a person's actual or perceived protected characteristic was the sole motivating factor in the offense.
This bill replaces the because of standard with a new standard. Specifically, willfully causing bodily injury, or attempting to do so using a dangerous weapon, is a hate crime offense if a person's actual or perceived protected characteristic was a contributory motivating factor in the offense.
Cosponsors 21
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Feb 17, 2023 to Mar 21, 2024; 16 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-IL | Danny K. Davis | Original | Feb 17, 2023 |
| D-OR | Earl Blumenauer | Original | Feb 17, 2023 |
| D-CA | Eric Swalwell | Original | Feb 17, 2023 |
| D-MD | Glenn Ivey | Original | Feb 17, 2023 |
| D-NY | Grace Meng | Original | Feb 17, 2023 |
| D-GA | Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr. | Original | Feb 17, 2023 |
| D-CT | Jahana Hayes | Original | Feb 17, 2023 |
| D-CA | Jimmy Panetta | Original | Feb 17, 2023 |
| D-TX | Joaquin Castro | Original | Feb 17, 2023 |
| D-CA | Judy Chu | Original | Feb 17, 2023 |
| D-GA | Lucy McBath | Original | Feb 17, 2023 |
| D-CA | Mark Takano | Original | Feb 17, 2023 |
| D-GA | Nikema Williams | Original | Feb 17, 2023 |
| D-NY | Nydia M. Velázquez | Original | Feb 17, 2023 |
| D-TX | Sylvia R. Garcia | Original | Feb 17, 2023 |
| D-TX | Veronica Escobar | Original | Feb 17, 2023 |
| D-CA | J. Luis Correa | Mar 28, 2023 | |
| D-CA | Raul Ruiz | Mar 28, 2023 | |
| D-CA | Sydney Kamlager-Dove | Mar 28, 2023 | |
| D-NY | Adriano Espaillat | Oct 24, 2023 | |
| D-DC | Eleanor Holmes Norton | Mar 21, 2024 |
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Judiciary Committee | Referred Feb 17, 2023 |
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Feb 17, 2023Introduced in House
- Feb 17, 2023Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 169, no. 33, February 17, 2023, page H856.
Related bills 1
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR 2416 | Stop Hate Crimes Act of 2021 | Reintroduction of | Oct 19, 2021 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To amend title 18, United States Code, to clarify the causation element in the Federal hate crime statute, and for other purposes.
- Short Title(s) as Introduced
- Stop Hate Crimes Act of 2023
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Crime and Law Enforcement.
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Feb 17, 2023Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
