We are grateful to everyone in the ADL community who signs petitions, contacts legislators and helps make hate-crime-prevention legislation a priority. ADL has played a key role in getting important new anti-hate legislation — the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act and the NO HATE Act — passed in recent days.
Hate crimes are not just an attack on a single person, but on entire communities, whether the hatred is characterized by antisemitism, racism or some other form of bigotry. These bills reflect the growing consensus across America that enough is enough: there is no place for hate in our communities.
The laws were passed by large majority votes with wide support across the political aisles, and quickly signed into law by President Biden.
The NO HATE Act addresses the disturbing increase in hate crimes in the United States. It provides for improved reporting, encouraging law enforcement prevention, training, and education on hate crimes and establishing a hate crime hotline. Since Jews are consistently the most targeted victims of religiously-motivated hate crimes according to FBI reports, more accurate national tracking is an important step in addressing antisemitic hate crimes.
The NO HATE Act was passed as part of the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, which takes steps against the rise in hate crimes and violence targeted at Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. You can read more about the legislation here.
ADL has advocated tirelessly for these bills, which build on our leadership on combating hate crimes: ADL crafted the first model hate crime legislation in America, and 46 states plus the District of Columbia now have laws based on or similar to it. ADL also led the coalition of organizations that spearheaded passage of the landmark Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in 2009, which established a federal hate crimes law. Our interactive map includes FBI hate crime data for all 50 states and for large cities, and includes links to every hate crime law on the books in the country.
As antisemitism has alarmingly climbed over the past few weeks, ADL has been engaging the Biden/Harris Administration, and the Department of Justice specifically, about how these newly enacted laws can be immediately implemented.
Thank you for helping ADL improve how hate crimes are tracked, responded to and prevented.
