Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) offered this amendment to add “gender,” “sexual orientation” and “disability” to the list of federally designated victim groups protected under “Hate Crimes” law, thereby dramatically expanding federal jurisdiction. Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) explained that the Kennedy amendment “would make a federal case out of every single hate-motivated crime that occurs in this country — including all rapes and sexual assaults, which currently are prosecuted under State law.”
The Senate adopted the Kennedy amendment to S. 2549 on June 20, 2000 by a vote of 57-42 (Roll Call 136). We have assigned pluses to the nays.
