(DailyVantage.com) – Last week, the Michigan State House passed a hate crimes bill that would expand the state’s ethnic intimidation law to include LGBT and senior citizens and give prosecutors more leeway in prosecuting vandalism at places of worship. Additionally, the measure will make it illegal to cause someone to “feel” threatened, CBS News reported.
While Democratic state lawmakers believe that the legislation will help curb violent extremism, Michigan Republicans believe the bill is a threat to freedom of speech.
State Republicans argue that the language of the bill is too vague and unconstitutional, amounting to state-imposed censorship in which prosecutors can charge an individual based on the “feelings” of the alleged “victim.”
The bill, which passed the state House 59 to 50, is sponsored by State Democrat Rep. Noah Arbit, who claimed that he was “sick” of looking for a place to hide in a gay bar in case a gunman enters and “sick” of reading newspaper headlines about churches and mosques getting desecrated.
However, State Rep. Steve Carra, a Republican, believes that Arbit’s bill goes too far since it criminalizes making someone “feel threatened.”
Carra told CBS News that while he agrees that protecting against actual violence and threats of violence is appropriate, the state should not be protecting against someone’s “feelings of being frightened.”
Carra urged the Michigan Senate to “scrap this bill,” saying the measure is not what is needed in the state.
But the State Senate is expected to approve the measure.
Michigan Democrat State Rep. Emily Divendorf told CBS News that Democrats in the State House are confident that the bill will clear the Senate, and Governor Gretchen Whitmer is expected to sign it into law.
Under the measure, someone convicted of making an individual “feel threatened” could face a sentence of up to five years and a $10,000 fine.
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