Stephanie Wang

stephanie.wang@indystar.com

Quietly and seemingly effortlessly, legislation passed the Indiana Senate to finally create a hate crime law in Indiana, one of just five states in the nation without one.

Under the proposal, courts could consider stiffer sentences for crimes in which victims were targeted based on prejudices.

Similar attempts have failed in the Statehouse year after year, for more than 15 years. But now, this week, the measure heads to the House.

So what changed?

The spotlight on discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people vaulted hate crime legislation to be a priority for some lawmakers, including Republicans who say implementing a hate crime law could prove Hoosiers are fair-minded and inclusive of a diverse population.

But the contention around LGBT rights, and the way that becomes entangled with hate crime discussions, also could hobble the legislation.

After all, it has before.

So the task ahead for House members with an interest in advancing the bill will be to distinguish — and perhaps distance — the hate crime proposal from the push for LGBT civil rights protections.

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"Our job is to protect those who need to be protected," said Rep. Randy Truitt, R-West Lafayette, who is sponsoring the measure in the House.

The challenge could be heightened if Democratic lawmakers try to use the hate crime bill, Senate Bill 220, to restart the civil rights debate.

But Republican support gives the bill new cachet, as does backing from Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry and a coalition of more than 30 community organizations throughout the state.

This year's proposal is slightly weaker than previous iterations. It does not create a separate criminal charge for hate crimes, but instead it would give judges the option of considering harsher sentences when crimes are committed with the intent of harming a person or community based on characteristics such as race, religion, national origin, disability, sex, sexual orientation or gender identity.

​Judges already have that discretion to increase punishments in other cases, including when victims are children or elderly, when victims are under the care of the perpetrators, or when perpetrators have a criminal history.

Will Indiana remain one of 5 states without hate crime law?

Hate crime laws exist at the federal level and in every state except Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina and Wyoming.

Indiana reported 60 hate crime incidents in 2014, according to FBI statistics. Indiana also requires its law enforcement agencies to report bias-motivated crimes.

Hate crimes are particularly heinous, said bill author Sen. Susan Glick, R-LaGrange, for the "chilling effect" they can have by sending a message of hate to an entire group of people.

Consider the cases lawmakers and other advocates have cited:

• Headstones vandalized in a Jewish cemetery in Fort Wayne.

• A Muslim woman attacked in front of her child in Bloomington.

• A cross burning in the yard of a black couple in Johnson County.

• And then, nationally, a mass shooting at a black church in South Carolina.

When compared to other crimes, "a hate crime involves something deeper," Glick said.

"If they would act on their prejudice, they should face a stiffer punishment," she added.

Glick said she pursued the legislation in part to counter the negative perceptions of Indiana as a discriminatory state after the national firestorm over last year's Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

"We call it 'Hoosier Hospitality,' yet our laws are inconsistent with that," said Sen. Greg Taylor, D-Indianapolis, who co-authored the legislation and has pushed for it in the past.

He said passing hate crime legislation is important for the state's image, but he also said he didn't want it to be confused with civil rights for LGBT people. Instead, he emphasized that the law would apply only in the cases of purposefully targeted crimes.

In the past, critics, including social conservatives, have protested hate crime legislation, because they say it elevates crimes when they're committed against certain minorities instead of "treating all crimes equally."

However, this year's hate crime bill cleared the Senate without opposing testimony. Lawmakers voted 34-16 to advance the legislation, with some of the most socially conservative state senators voting against it.

Its fate in the House remains uncertain. Bills have yet to be assigned to committees, where the chairs will decide whether to grant hearings. The House has until March 3 to vote on legislation, before the session ends March 14.

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IndyStar reporter Chelsea Schneider contributed to this story.

Call IndyStar reporter Stephanie Wang at (317) 444-6184. Follow her on Twitter: @stephaniewang.