5. HB 938 2nd Reading

Passage. 4/27/99. RV #151, p 1436 CSHB 938 passed 83-61.

YCT Nay. The bill would enhance criminal penalties for bias-motivated crimes. Also known as the “James Byrd, Jr. Act.” Crimes committed against life and property either involve hatred or a blatant disregard of victims. Juries should be allowed to fully punish criminal offenders for the crimes they commit, including imposing the death penalty, not on the ethnicity and gender of their victims