Pennsylvania Court Overturns Hate Crimes Expansion Tacked Onto Agricultural Bill

By John Connolly

HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania, November 15, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A Pennsylvania Commonwealth court struck down a hate crimes law on Thursday, citing a procedural violation of the state constitution in the bill's passage through the legislation.

Commonwealth Court Judge James Gardner Colins wrote the opinion of a 4-1 majority, ruling against the 2002 measure to expand hate crimes law to include homosexuals as a victim group. The court struck down the law because the provision violated Article III of the state Constitution, which prohibits a bill's alteration during its passage through the legislature if the bill's original purpose is changed.

The bill started as a measure against agricultural vandalism, and was changed by the state legislature into a hate crimes bill designed to make it illegal for anybody to protest public homosexual activities and celebrations. The law was used to persecute anybody who stood in the way of the homosexual agenda, redefining peaceful protest by Christians as hate crime.

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Court strikes down state's 'hate crimes'
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=58744