~Letter to PA Governor Tom Corbett 3-15-13~
PA Governor Tom Corbett
GOVERNOR'S SOUTHWEST OFFICE
Director: Mary Ann Eisenreich
301 5th Avenue, Room 240
Pittsburgh, PA 15222
(412) 412-565-5700
Counties Served: Huntingdon, Fulton, Blair, Bedford, Cambria, Somerset, Indiana, Westmoreland, Fayette, Greene, Washington, Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Armstrong & Lawrence.
Dear Governor Corbett,
We need to know where you stand. Are you against hate? And if you are as I believe you are then you would support the aspect of this Hate Crimes Bill, HB 177. So we know in a country such as ours that is strong and powerful that we can not tolerate hate. We must learn as we have in the past 2oo years of our country that we must work together, we must work with tolerance and love. As Jesus said, love thy neighbor as thyself. So it is important that we follow the aspect of the traditions of our great country by working together to pass this Hate Crimes Bill and to say to the world as well as to the citizens of this state and our country that we will not tolerate hate. Thank you for considering this. I look forward to your reply.
Sincerely Yours,
John A. DeBartola
President, Keystone Alliance/Gaylife Newsletter
~Thank you letter to Senator Woziank~
3-1-13
PA State Senator John Woziank
March 1, 2013
Sen. John N. Wozniak
Harrisburg Office
Room 182 Main Capitol
Harrisburg, PA 17120
Phone: 717-787-5400
Dear Senator Woziank,
It is with great thanks that I write you knowing that it takes a true leader such as you to be willing to co-sponsor this bill, this Hate Crimes Bill. It takes a leader because that is what one has to be to deal with hate crimes, to deal with hate in general, to deal with what is most important and that is as we as citizens of this United States must show respect for one another, we must band together and unite against hate. We must unite against those who believe that hate is ok when we really truly know it is not. It is not ok to hate. But it certainly is ok to love. Many religious leaders would tell you that we are here to love and many religions preach love. And then those that preach love know that they have been touched by God and I say one of the best ways that we as a community can speak of love is to by saying no to hate. We can show the greatest love by standing up and saying we will not tolerate hate.
So let us all join together and unite among the common threat that hate is a crime that must not be tolerated, that hate is not welcome here in our community, in our state, or in our nation. That we are a country and a community of individuals that have chosen to love their fellow human kind and do not tolerate hate in all it’s many forms. So once against thank you for taking this leadership position, and being willing to co-sponsor this much needed bill that will put an end to hate, making it a crime that it truly deserves to be.
We also appreciate you checking your schedule and would be thrilled if you could attend the Spirit Award Ceremony on June 13th and be a speaker.
Sincerely Yours,
John A. DeBartola
President, Keystone Alliance/Gaylife Newsletter
CC: www.gaylifenewsletter.com, Josh Myers~ Senator Woziank's Aide
~Request For Introduction of a Hate Crimes Bill in the PA Senate to PA State Senator John Woziank~
PA State Senator John Woziank
January 25, 2013
Sen. John N. Wozniak
Harrisburg Office
Room 182 Main Capitol
Harrisburg, PA 17120
Phone: 717-787-5400
Dear Senator Wozniak,
It’s come to our attention after meeting with Rep. Barbin and he will be introducing an amendment to the Hate Crimes Bill of Rep. Boyle in the house and we were so glad that we was willing to take the lead in this particular aspect so we are writing you as our senator representing our community asking if you would be willing to take the lead on this and introduce a bill similar or this bill itself in the senate.
As you know we are honoring these individuals, Rep. Mike Fleck and Rep. Brian Sims with the Spirit Award on Thursday, June 13th at 4 pm at the Cambria County Library for their contribution to the community at our annual award ceremony and certainly would be more then happy to invite you to this event if you feel you would have time in the near future to attend but nonetheless we would hope that perhaps you would introduce this bill in the senate. Can you please get back to us and let us know if this might be a possibility.
We are more then willing to meet with you or representatives from your office to discuss our concerns related to this issue. Enclosed is a copy of the bill being submitted in the house.
Sincerely Yours,
John A. DeBartola
President, Keystone Alliance/Gaylife Newsletter
| Posted: | January 3, 2013 03:02 PM |
| From: | Representative Brendan Boyle |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Hate Crimes |
In the near future, I will be introducing legislation to amend 2710 of the Pennsylvania Crime Code expanding the offense of ethnic intimidation to include malicious intention against the actual or perceived ancestry, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation, gender or gender identity of another individual or group of individuals. A crime motivated by hatred towards these protected classes shall be graded one degree higher than already specified in law. A summary offense shall be graded as a misdemeanor of the third degree. The offense of ethnic intimidation is already defined to include malicious intention toward the race, color, religion or national origin of an individual or group of individuals.
As you may know, Pennsylvania’s hate crimes law had protected individuals based on their actual or perceived ancestry, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation, gender or gender identity until the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that Act 143 of 2002 was unconstitutional on July 23, 2008, and this language was removed from the Crimes Code. The Court’s ruling had nothing to do with the merits of the hate crimes law; rather, the decision finds that the original bill, House Bill 1493, was amended so as to change its original purpose; therefore, the enactment of House Bill 1493, violated Article III Section I of the Pennsylvania Constitution.
Two sessions ago, Rep. Shapiro introduced a similar bill that passed the Judiciary Committee with bipartisan support.
A list of co-sponsors to the previous legislation is below:
Former House Bill 1372 of 2011-2012 – INTRODUCED BY SHAPIRO, B. BOYLE, K. BOYLE, BRADFORD, BRENNAN, BRIGGS, V. BROWN, BUXTON, CARROLL, D. COSTA, CRUZ, DALEY, DAVIS, DePASQUALE, DONATUCCI, GEORGE, JOHNSON, JOSEPHS, KIRKLAND, MAHONEY, MANN, McGEEHAN, MULLERY, MUNDY, MURT, M. O'BRIEN, PARKER, PASHINSKI, READSHAW, ROEBUCK, ROSS, SANTARSIERO, SANTONI, K. SMITH, M. SMITH, STURLA, THOMAS, WATERS, WHEATLEY AND YOUNGBLOOD,
If you have any questions regarding this legislation, please contact Laurie Fouse-Miller in my office.
(Introduced as
HB177)
Email Keystonealliancegaylifenewsletter@hotmail.com with any comments.