Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) signed a bill into law earlier this week making Oregon the fourteenth state to bar defendants accused of violent crimes from using their victims’ sexual orientation or gender identity to argue for a more lenient sentence.
Under the bill’s provisions, defendants accused of second-degree murder cannot argue they were “under the influence of extreme emotional disturbance” upon learning of a victim’s LGBTQ identity.
State Rep. Karin Power (D-Milwaukie), the House sponsor of the bill, said it would “send a strong message” that perpetrators will not be able to “excuse the crime simply based on who their victim is,” reports The Register-Guard.
California was the first state to ban the use of the so-called “panic defense” in 2014, with several other Democratic-leaning states following suit.
The District of Columbia also passed a law outlawing the use of LGBTQ panic defenses, but the implementation of the law has stalled due to two factors: 1) not being ready to transmit to Congress until mid-February, and 2) an additional delay in starting the clock on a 60-day congressional review period, due to increased Capitol Hill security — following the Jan. 6 breach of the U.S. Capitol building by a mob — that made it difficult to physically deliver bills to the Congress in person.
If no additional objections to the bill are raised within the next few weeks, the 60-day review period is scheduled to end soon, allowing the law to go into effect.
Gay or trans panic defenses have traditionally been employed to argue for a lesser sentence or more leniency by playing on the anti-LGBTQ prejudices of judges or juries.
Such tactics were employed — both successfully and unsuccessfully — in a number of high-profile cases involving LGBTQ murder victims, including Matthew Shepard, Brandon Teena, Marco McMillan, Gwen Araujo, Angie Zapata, and Islan Nettles.
At least eight other states are considering similar legislation to ban the panic defense, although some defense lawyers object to such bills because they allege it hamstrings their ability to defend their clients if they can’t convince judges or juries that there were extenuating circumstances leading to the crime.
HRC announced Brown had signed the bill into law earlier this week.
🥳 Good news! @OregonGovBrown has signed into law a bill ending the so-called LGBTQ “panic defense.”
The LGBT Bar Association has been one of the chief proponents of bills similar to the one signed by Brown, arguing that allowing defense lawyers to employ the argument to seek a more lenient sentence maintains an “unjust status quo.”
“The LGBTQ+ ‘panic’ defense frequently draws on stigmas particular to LGBTQ+ people, their sexualities, and their genders to justify horrific violence against LGBTQ+ individuals,” the group wrote on its website. “The defense is rooted in homophobia and transphobia.”
According to Oregon Public Broadcasting, the Oregon Department of Justice says that the state’s response hotline for bias crimes recorded 287 reports of crimes or incidents against LGBTQ people since January 2020.
The Human Rights Campaign, a national LGBTQ advocacy group, notes that anti-LGBTQ violence has risen in recent years, particularly against transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals, with 44 being killed in the United States last year — the highest number since the organization began tracking the murders of LGBTQ victims in 2013.
State Rep. Anna Williams (D-Hood River) argued during the House debate on the bill that such a law banning the use of the LGBTQ panic defense is long overdue.
“From a legal standpoint, when the state tells you that the discovery of someone’s gender, whether actual or perceived, or their sexual orientation creates a diminished capacity … the state is telling you that someone else’s life matters less because of who they love or how they express themselves,” Williams said. “I find that very offensive.”
A gay-owned ice cream shop displaying a large Pride flag outside was attacked twice in 24 hours by a man who hurled Molotov cocktails at the business.
Jason Fletcher, owner of Fletcher's Ice Cream & Café in Minneapolis, told NBC affiliate KTTC that employees had left just six minutes before the first attack, around 10:45 p.m. on Sunday, October 19. The suspect hurled a Molotov cocktail, shattering a window and igniting several chairs. Patrons at nearby Mac's Industrial Sports Bar helped extinguish the flames.
The second attack came just over 14 hours later, around 12:52 p.m. on Monday, when the shop was closed. This time, the Molotov cocktail created a larger hole in the window, but its wick fell out before the flames could reach inside. The fire scorched the sidewalk outside, leaving burn marks near several tables and chairs.
A Florida man has been arrested and charged with the murder of Girlalala, a 21-year-old transgender TikTok influencer, after allegedly shooting her during what appears to have been a dispute between the couple.
Broward County Sheriff's Office deputies say 25-year-old Shanoyd Whyte Jr. shot Girlalala shortly before 7 p.m. on Friday, November 14, while the two were sitting in a car on the side of the road in Lauderdale Lakes, Florida.
According to Miami-based WPLG, video from a nearby Tesla shows a man believed to be Whyte getting out of the driver's side of a sedan as Girlalala tries to exit the passenger side. He appears to grab her by the hair and force her back inside before pacing outside the car with a cellphone in hand.
A Texas grand jury has indicted 57-year-old Sigfredo Ceja Alvarez in connection with the June 1 killing of actor Jonathan Joss. Police say Alvarez confronted Joss and his husband as they were picking up mail at their San Antonio home, which had burned down in February.
The 59-year-old Joss -- whose legal name was Jonathan Joss Gonzales -- was best known for his roles on the animated series King of the Hill and the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation.
The Bexar County District Attorney’s Office said in a Nov. 19 statement that Ceja Alvarez "is charged with murder, the most serious charge applicable under Texas law." The office added that, because the case is still pending, no further details could be released.
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