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Message: <br /><br /> If you are having trouble reading this email, you may view this article online at: http://www.jweekly.com/6058/full/6058/kopp-hails-attack-on-hate-crimes-by-senate-committee/ <br /><br /> <b>Kopp hails attack on hate crimes by Senate committee</b> <br /> Friday, June 27, 1997 | by <p>LORI EPPSTEIN </p> <br /><br /><p>The resolution does not call for specific punishments for hate crimes, he said, because there are existing laws that specifically prohibit acts defined as hate crimes and include penalties.<br /><br /> The resolution "is yet another expression by the people's elected representatives and the people," the senator said. "I believe it would be a valuable contribution toward fighting hate crime."<br /><br /> While there is no known evidence that existing laws have discouraged hate crime, Kopp said his resolution could influence an individual who is "on the cusp of committing a criminal act…and might think twice about vandalizing some Jewish- or African-American-owned store."<br /><br /> In the bill, Kopp cites statistics that point to an increase of hate-related and anti-Semitic incidents throughout the Golden State:<br /><br /> More than half of the hate crimes in Los Angeles are violent in nature, the bill states, and the number of incidents increased by 25 percent during 1996.<br /><br /> "Whereas, in 1995, hate crimes against Jewish citizens rose by 21 percent in California, hate crimes against persons based upon sexual orientation rose by 53 percent in…Los Angeles…and a hate mail campaign aimed at African Americans occurred on the University of California at Berkeley…be it resolved…the Legislature does hereby formally denounce hate crimes," the bill reads.<br /><br /> A trailer bill promoting related educational programs in public schools is the resolution's likely successor, he said, but that is still in the idea stage of development.<br /><br /> Kopp said he got the idea for the resolution from a constituent who had read about communities that fight hate crimes in a Parade magazine article. San Bruno resident Tim Pokrywki paraphrased Elie Wiesel in a letter to Kopp: "`If you don't fight hate, hate wins,'" the senator recalled.<br /><br /> In an aside, the lawmaker noted a critical juncture for another of his bills, designed to reverse a new California Department of Corrections policy barring media interviews of inmates.<br /><br /> The prison bill has received widespread support from the American Jewish Congress, media organizations and professional groups, a prison workers' union and prisoners' rights activists, many of whom relied on unrestricted access to those behind bars.<br /><br /> The prison bill rests with the Assembly Committee on Public Safety, where it is slated for a July 1 vote.</p> <p> </p>

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