Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2001

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 390 entitled:

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to counter the incidence of hate crimes in Hawaii by:

Testimony in support was submitted by the Hawaii Civil Rights Commission, the Hawaii State Commission on the Status of Women, the Civil Unions-Civil Rights Movement, the Hawaii Hate Crimes Task Force, the Anti-Violence Project, the American Friends Service Committee, and members of the public.

Testimony in opposition was submitted by the Honolulu Police Department, the Hawaii County Police Department, Christian Voice of Hawaii, a member of the Graduate Student Organization Court at the University of Hawaii, and members of the public.

The Department of the Attorney General, the Office of the Public Defender, and the Office of Information Practices submitted comments on the bill.

Your Committee finds that hate crimes are distinct from other crimes in terms of both motivation and result. Unlike other criminals, the hate crime offender is motivated to commit the crime because of his or her discriminatory prejudice against a class of people or property.

Furthermore, hate crimes are more likely than other crimes to provoke retaliatory crimes, inflict distinct emotional harm on their victims, and incite community unrest. Your Committee finds that this bill is necessary to address these undesirable social effects.

Your Committee believes that at this time, the establishment of a reporting mechanism should be achieved independent of enhanced sentencing provisions. Accordingly, your Committee has amended this bill by deleting the bill's reporting requirements.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 390, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 390, H.D. 1, and be placed on the calendar for Third Reading.