News and Events => Opinions & Editorials => Topic started by: Butterfly on April 12, 2009, 08:07:46 AM Return to Full Version
Title: Andrade trial watchers want more than ‘guilty’
Post by: Butterfly on April 12, 2009, 08:07:46 AM
Post by: Butterfly on April 12, 2009, 08:07:46 AM
Andrade trial watchers want more than 'guilty'
The Greely Tribune
Sunday, April 12, 2009
http://www.greeleytribune.com/article/20090412/NEWS/904129944/1005/NONE&parentprofile=1001 (http://www.greeleytribune.com/article/20090412/NEWS/904129944/1005/NONE&parentprofile=1001)
The case is being prosecuted as not only a first-degree murder case, but also under Colorado's hate-crime law, which in 2005 was amended to include violence based on bias against sexual orientation. Colorado is one of only a few states in the country that has gender identity protection in its hate-crime law.
Advocates say the trial will be the first test throughout the nation of a hate-crime law being used in a case of violence against a transgender person. They hope the case will bring national attention to the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act — the Matthew Shepard Act — which is languishing in Congress. Shepard, a gay man living in Wyoming, was tortured and beaten to death by two men who met him at a bar in 1998. His case brought further attention to hate-crime laws.
The Greely Tribune
Sunday, April 12, 2009
http://www.greeleytribune.com/article/20090412/NEWS/904129944/1005/NONE&parentprofile=1001 (http://www.greeleytribune.com/article/20090412/NEWS/904129944/1005/NONE&parentprofile=1001)
The case is being prosecuted as not only a first-degree murder case, but also under Colorado's hate-crime law, which in 2005 was amended to include violence based on bias against sexual orientation. Colorado is one of only a few states in the country that has gender identity protection in its hate-crime law.
Advocates say the trial will be the first test throughout the nation of a hate-crime law being used in a case of violence against a transgender person. They hope the case will bring national attention to the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act — the Matthew Shepard Act — which is languishing in Congress. Shepard, a gay man living in Wyoming, was tortured and beaten to death by two men who met him at a bar in 1998. His case brought further attention to hate-crime laws.