Levin to introduce hate crimes measure
Lou Chibbaro, Jr. reports at Washington Blade:
Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), chair of the influential Senate Armed Services Committee, said he plans to introduce the hate crimes bill as an amendment to the fiscal year 2009 Defense Authorization Act, either in committee next week or on the Senate floor in late May.
Levin’s proposal is likely to trigger opposition in the House of Representatives from the same odd coalition of lawmakers — liberal, anti-war Democrats and anti-gay Republicans — that killed the hate crimes bill last year by refusing to agree to attach it to the 2008 defense authorization measure.
Matthew Shepard Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act