Politics
Tuesday January 15, 2008
Increase Sentences for Gay "Hate Crimes": Scottish Parliament
TODAY'S HEADLINES
E-MAIL
PRINT
By Hilary White
EDINBURGH, January 15, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The independent Parliament of Scotland has approved a bill to increase penalties for hate crimes, based on a judgement of the perpetrator's motives of "ill will" towards homosexuals.
Justice secretary Kenny MacAskill has said the government would support the bill. Should the bill be passed, it will bring Scotland into line with England and Wales, where courts have been able to impose tougher sentences for offences committed due to a victim's disability or sexual orientation for several years.
The Sentencing of Offences Aggravated by Prejudice (Scotland) Bill was proposed by Patrick Harvie, a Scottish Green Member of the Scottish Parliament. Harvie said, "For too long our justice system has been oblivious to the motivation behind hate crimes against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered Scots, as well as Scots with disabilities."
Harvie, who identifies himself as "bisexual" is a long-time activist for homosexual causes, getting his start in political work as a teenager with the Gay Men's Project. He is an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society, Honorary Vice-President of the Gay and Lesbian Humanist Association and Stonewall, Britain's most prominent homosexual lobbyist organisation.
The bill will extend statutory aggravations to cover crimes motivated by malice or ill will towards victims.
Critics of such laws, however, have said that neither governments nor courts have the competence to rule on motives and that "hate"-based crimes already have ample provision for prosecution. Conservative justice spokesman Bill Aitken said attacks on gay people were serious issues already recognised by judges and sheriffs.
"In Scotland, we pride ourselves in the fact that we are all equal in the eyes of the law but some it now seems are more equal than others, which cannot be right," he said.
Aiken added, "If we carry on the way things are going, with so many special cases, then the only people that will not have the protection of the court in Scotland are white, heterosexual males."
Back to TopLatest Headlines
- US Congress Passes Health Care Reform Bill 220 - 215
- Stupak Amendment to Health Care Bill Passes 240 - 194 Saturday Evening
- NY Times: Dems Banking on Later Squeezing Pro-Life Language Out of Bill in Committee
- USCCB Spokesman: "Definitely Not True" that Bishops Support Bill As it Stands
- TIME Got it Wrong - Prof. George Opposed Grandiose Kennedy Funeral
- Major Health Care Development - Pro-Life Stupak Amendment Vote OK'd for Saturday
- USCCB Condemnation Tears Facade off "Phony" Abortion Compromise for Health Bill
- Health Care Bill Includes Monthly Abortion Premium: House Minority Leader Boehner
- TIME Article Setting Burke Against O'Malley Called "Tactical strike" on Behalf of Catholic Left
- Dirty Fighting on Abortion Funding: Word-Games and Health-Care Theatrics Boggle the Mind
- Commentary on November 6 News
- Note to LifeSiteNews Subscribers with Rogers email addresses
- New York Gov. Declares Nov. 10 Extraordinary Legislative Session for Same-Sex "Marriage"
- Washington's Pro-Family Amendment Effort Defeated - R-71 Almost Certain to Pass
- Vote Pushed Back on Canadian Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide Bill to Dec. 2
- Elderly U.K. Couple in Good Health Commit Suicide, Complain of Assisted Suicide Law
- Texas Late-Term Abortionist and Baptist Minister Admits: "Am I killing? Yes, I am"
- New Evidence Contradicts CCHD's Findings on Accused Pro-Abortion Partner
- Quebec Priest Denies Possibility of Sexual Reorientation Therapy on TV
- New Hampshire Same-Sex "Marriage" Law in Crosshairs after Maine's Law Crumbles
- Brooklyn Bishop Criticized for Recorded Message Praising Pro-Abortion Politician
- First Group of "Traditionalist" Anglicans in Britain Votes to Enter Catholic Church
Most Read this Week
- Planned Parenthood Director Resigns after Watching Ultrasound of Abortion Procedure
- Nun Defiant Following Rebuke, but Stops Abortion Escorting
- Breaking: Dominican Community Apologizes for Nun Caught Acting as Abortion Escort
- TIME Article Setting Burke Against O'Malley Called "Tactical strike" on Behalf of Catholics Left
- Over 200 Christendom College Students Protest Abortion at Planned Parenthood Clinic
- US Congress Passes Health Care Reform Bill 218 to 215
- Newly Identified Corporate Supporters of Planned Parenthood Named
- Scottish Gay Rights Activists Found Guilty of Pedophilia Sentenced to Life Imprisonment
- Major Health Care Bill Development - Stupak Hyde Amendment Vote OK'd
- Health Care Bill Includes Monthly Abortion Premium: House Minority Leader Boehner
MORE NEWS: 
LifeSiteNews.com Home Page Last 10 Days Archives Special Reports
Copyright © LifeSiteNews.com. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License. You may republish this article or portions of it without request provided the content is not altered and it is clearly attributed to "LifeSiteNews.com". Any website publishing of complete or large portions of original LifeSiteNews articles MUST additionally include a live link to www.LifeSiteNews.com. The link is not required for excerpts. Republishing of articles on LifeSiteNews.com from other sources as noted is subject to the conditions of those sources.