Matthew Shepard Hate Crime Prevention Act

Recently, President Obama signed the Matthew Shepard Hate Crime Prevention Act into law, ending more than a decade long quest in the wake of the horrific murder of University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard to extend federal hate crime law to cover attacks based on sexual orientation.  In the lead-up to the legislation’s passage, SPSSI solicited member hate crimes experts to craft opinion pieces addressing their own personal research and experiences with hate crimes, as well as the importance and/or effects of the bill. 

SPSSI member Gloria Cowan, Professor Emerita at California State University, San Bernardino responded to our call and composed an op-ed entitled “Time to broaden scope of hate crimes,” which appeared in the The San Bernardino Sun on October 21st, 2009.  The San Bernardino Sun services a large readership extending from the Los Angeles/Orange Counties to the west, east to the Arizona State line, north to the Imperial County line, and south to the Riverside City line. 

> Time to broaden scope of hate crimes, The San Bernardino Sun, October 21st, 2009, by Gloria Cowan

> Background of the bill and hate crime legislation, by Julie Garcia, Ph.D. and Carrie Langner, Ph.D.