{"articles":[{"reaction_config":[{"text":"Support","color":"#2ca788","stance":"support"},{"text":"Oppose","color":"#ef3e42","stance":"oppose"}],"id":44872,"title":"Anti-Lynching Legislation Stalled in Congress Despite Bipartisan Support","html_content":"

by Causes | 6.9.20

What’s the story?

Bipartisan bills to make lynching a federal hate crime that have passed both chambers of Congress with near-unanimous support are stuck in limbo, with each chamber resisting efforts to pass the other’s legislation.
The two bills are virtually identical pieces of legislation, except for their titles & a budgetary impact clause in the House bill. Both would amend the federal criminal code to specify that lynching is a heinous crime that warrants an enhanced sentence of up to 10 additional years imprisonment under hate crimes statutes. For example, murder & attempted murder are already federal crimes that can be charged as hate crimes, and if enacted this bill would allow for an additional sentence in cases of lynching.
Both bills also list numerous findings about the history of lynching, including that lynching “succeeded slavery as the ultimate expression of racism” after Reconstruction; at least 4,742 people (mostly African Americans) were lynched in the U.S. between 1882 & 1968; 99% of all lynching perpetrators escaped punishment; nearly 200 anti-lynching bills were introduced in Congress during the first half of the 20th century without enactment; and the Senate in 2005 formally apologized to victims of lynching for the failure of Congress to approve an anti-lynching bill.

Timeline of Events

In December 2018, the Senate unanimously passed the Justice for Victims of Lynching Act, but the House didn’t act before the conclusion of the 115th Congress.
On January 3, 2019, Rep. Bobby Rush (D-IL) introduced the Emmett Till Antilynching Act.
On February 14, 2019, Sens. Kamala Harris (D-CA), Cory Booker (D-NJ), and Tim Scott (R-SC) reintroduced the Justice for Victims of Lynching Act. The same day as the bill’s reintroduction, the Senate brought it to the floor and passed it by a unanimous voice vote, at which point it was sent to the House the same day. The bill could reach the president’s desk for enactment following a passage vote by the House.
On June 12, 2019, the House Judiciary Committee ― which was referred the Senate-passed anti-lynching bill on February 14th ― held a markup session for the House anti-lynching bill and advanced it on a voice vote.
On October 31, 2019, the House Judiciary Committee formally reported the House’s anti-lynching bill.
On February 26, 2020, the House holds a passage vote for its anti-lynching bill, which succeeded 410-4.
On June 4, 2020, Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) asked for unanimous consent to bring up the House-passed bill, amend it, and pass it ― which would’ve sent it back to the House. Paul explained that he sent the amended text to Sen. Booker’s office three months prior, which would clarify that “lynching” constitutes an attempt to do severe bodily harm & prevent the application of the lynching provision to lesser incidents of assault, but Sens. Booker & Harris objected to the changes he proposed.

How will one of the bills become law?

The House could take up the Justice for Victims of Lynching Act, which has idly sat in the chamber since the Senate approved it in February 2019.
Since the House is currently on recess and hasn’t scheduled any floor votes before June 30th, it could attempt to pass the bill by unanimous consent during a pro forma session, although the four members who voted against the Emmett Till Antilynching Act in February 2020 might object.
If unanimous consent can’t be obtained, the House could schedule the Justice for Victims of Lynching Act for a vote under the fast-track suspension of the rules process when it returns for its next floor votes, which would allow its passage with expedited debate assuming it gets a three-fifths majority (which it almost certainly would).
The Senate could attempt to pass the Emmett Till Antilynching Act by unanimous consent when Sen. Paul isn’t in attendance to offer his amendment. If that’s not feasible, the Senate could have a floor debate on the Emmett Till Antilynching Act and hold votes on Paul’s amendment and the House-passed version of the bill.

— Eric Revell

(Photo Credit: iStock.com / madsci)

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Shocked I was once a registered Democrat. I stayed the same but the Democrat party moved so far to the left it lost me. Permanently. My Favorite Quote is from Margaret Thatcher: The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples' money to spend.","twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":null,"issue_count":56,"is_following":null,"influence_score":5080,"influence_level":40,"follower_count":194,"following_count":466,"position_count":195,"id":"zmJ1aJnZ","partner_id":null},{"name":"Just.Dave","vote_count":288,"photos":{"large":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/90odJdxE/large_90odjdxe-1604717057.jpg","small":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/90odJdxE/small_90odjdxe-1604717057.jpg","tiny":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/90odJdxE/tiny_90odjdxe-1604717057.jpg"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/90odJdxE/following","followers":"/api/users/90odJdxE/followers"},"about_me":"I am 37 years old, therefore technically a millennial, however I don't think I have much in common with that generation. I am old school Republican in regard to equality (not democratic or like the liberal of today, as they are as racist and sexist today as they ever were; changing their tactics only and none of their values... Rather to the likenesses of President Lincoln and President Grant.) I don't think that any individual group has the right to determine the value of another individual or group; which is the reason I am against abortion where a single woman can decide alone the value of the life growing within her womb. I don't believe the federal government should have any real say on this issue, I believe that individual states should look into whether or not abortion fits within the state's values. I am more modern conservative in that way; I believe the federal government should set guidelines for the states to govern themselves under, and not much more than that. I'm less socially conservative on other topics: I don't care about same sex marriage, marry whomever you want, just make sure it's to the right person and actually work through difficult times, don't just go for a convenient divorce... and people can identify as whatever they want, just don't ask for special privileges regarding these social issues... No special treatment for anyone based on age, sex, race, ethnicity, sexual preference, religion, class, etc. because that is also racist, sexist, etc. We are all created equal, with \"created\" being the operative word. Jesus said that a man is not defiled by the things a man puts into his body but by what comes out of his heart. We are not made different by the color of our skin, the food we eat, the music we listen to, the television we watch, but by our words and actions. See the handbook on Conservative Republicanism for all other values.","twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":"just.dave","issue_count":8,"is_following":null,"influence_score":1590,"influence_level":30,"follower_count":62,"following_count":96,"position_count":219,"id":"90odJdxE","partner_id":null}],"article_comment":{"flagged":false,"id":1276349,"body":"??? I don’t recall in my lifetime anybody being lynched. And if there have been it would be Murder which is already illegal. You need to quit wasting taxpayer money On laws that don’t make sense","parent_type":"Article","parent_id":44872,"created_at":"2020-06-09T18:13:43.347Z","liked":false,"like_count":2,"links":{"self":"https://www.causes.com/comments/1276349","likers":"https://www.causes.com/api/v1/likers?likeable_id=1276349&likeable_type=Comment"},"article_id":44872,"shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/comments/1276349.png","note":{"text":"Oppose","color":"#ef3e42","stance":"oppose"},"note_text":"Oppose","note_color":"#ef3e42","user_id":"9odOonjo","liker_ids":["zmJ1aJnZ","90odJdxE"]}}

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