South Carolina is one of just two states without a hate crimes statute. Wyoming is the other.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A Democratic lawmaker who called the late pastor of Emanuel AME Church a friend is continuing his push to make South Carolina the 49th state with a hate crime law.
After an avowed white supremacist murdered nine members of the oldest African Methodist Episcopal church in the U.S. South in 2015, Rep. Wendell Gilliard revamped his ongoing pursuit of enhanced state penalties for hate crimes.
Before adjourning that summer, lawmakers provided a special session might allow them to stiffen punishments for crimes motivated by bias against particular groups. But no such proposal has become law in the years since.
The measure took its first steps this year when a House subcommittee unanimously advanced the bill Thursday. Gilliard told lawmakers that it brings “no pleasure” to discuss the issue every year. For Gilliard, the debate recalls memories of the attack on churchgoers he knew in the district where he was raised.
“It’s a weight to carry,” Gilliard told The Associated Press. “But you know you have to do it.”
South Carolina and Wyoming are the only two states without a hate crime statute.
The proposal is named after Clementa C. Pinckney, the former state senator and pastor who died in the racist Charleston massacre. The bill would allow harsher punishments for perpetrators of violent crimes motivated by their perception of someone’s race, color, religion, sex, gender, national origin, sexual orientation, or physical or mental disability. Additional fines no more than $10,000 and up to five years imprisonment could be imposed for anyone convicted.
The House approved a similar bill two years ago with bipartisan support. But…
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