Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto to introduce city-level hate crime legislation

  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.
Tom Davidson And Megan Guza, The Tribune-Review, Greensburg
·2 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Apr. 23—Legislation that Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto will introduce next week seeks to create local-level hate crime laws that will expand upon state law, which does not consider sexual orientation, gender identity or disability protected classes.

"What we're doing is taking a stand against hate in our city," said Dan Gilman, Peduto's chief of staff.

State and federal laws already include specific hate crime protections. Such crimes in Pennsylvania are charged as ethnic intimidation: crimes "motivated by ill will or hatred towards a victim's race, color, religion or national origin."

Whether the ethnic intimidation charge is a misdemeanor or a felony depends upon the degree of the crime that was motivated by the bias.

The proposed city-level legislation would go a step further than state law, however, including actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and disability.

State law limits the teeth the city-level law can have, limiting the level of the charge to a summary offense — the equivalent of a traffic citation.

"We'd love to do more, but we're just not permitted," Gilman said, noting that the legislation is about more than the charges — it's about showing that hate toward anyone isn't tolerated in Pittsburgh.

"We at least are putting out a statement that any crime committed against somebody because of their race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, will not be tolerated in the City of Pittsburgh and will include include increased punishment," he said.

The number of hate crimes reported to law enforcement agencies across Pennsylvania rose by 35% in 2020 compared to the year prior, according to Pennsylvania's Uniform Crime Report, jumping from 80 to 108. Crimes motivated by race or ethnicity rose by 41%, from 56 to 79.

In 2019, the most recent year for which federal data is available, 7,314 incidents were reported across the country, according to the FBI, though studies have indicated that such crimes are likely vastly underreported. Indeed, there are more than 18,000 law enforcement agencies nationwide, and fewer than 16,000 submitted their hate crime statistics.

Of those that did submit data, fewer than 3,000 reported any hate crimes within their jurisdiction.

"Some of those reports are probably true zeroes, but it's really unlikely that all of those jurisdictions had zero hate crimes," Florida State University criminologist Brendan Lantz told CNN last month.

Support Local Journalism

and help us continue covering the stories that matter to you and your community.

Support Journalism Now >

Recommended Stories

  • Lawmakers, defense officials joust over next-gen ICBM plans

    The war over a next-gen ICBM flared up at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.

  • A man who got his first COVID-19 vaccine a year ago in Moderna's clinical trial just received his third shot - and he's feeling great

    The 30-year-old science communicator got his first shot of the Moderna vaccine in a clinical trial last April. He's since gotten two more shots.

  • She faked negative COVID test to get to Virgin Islands, cops say. Now she’s in jail

    Visitors to the islands must submit negative COVID test results before they can enter.

  • California surpasses Hawaii with the lowest average number of coronavirus cases per capita in the U.S.

    Just a few months ago, California was the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. Hospitals in Los Angeles were drowning in patients, and ambulances were idling outside with people struggling to breathe, waiting for beds to open.

  • A Virginia sheriff's deputy shot an unarmed Black man 10 times after he called 911 for help

    Isaiah Brown, 32, got a ride home from the deputy after his car broke down. He called 911 later that same day and the deputy returned and shot him.

  • She faked negative COVID test to get to Virgin Islands, cops say. Now she’s in jail

    Visitors to the islands must submit negative COVID test results before they can enter.

  • Cop seen punching teen with autism in California video. ‘Disturbing,’ boy’s dad says

    “He said he always thought they were there to help and he doesn’t feel like that anymore,” the boy’s father said.

  • Dad-daughter duo raked in millions selling items stolen from Target and CVS, feds say

    Prosecutors say the pair hired “professional boosters” to shoplift for them.

  • SpaceX launches crew of four to the International Space Station

    Four astronauts took flight to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon early Friday morning. The big picture: This marks the third time SpaceX has launched people to space for NASA, helping the space agency end its reliance on Russia's Soyuz spacecraft and rocket for trips to the space station. Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free.The state of play: NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, Japanese astronaut Akihiko Hoshide and the European Space Agency's Thomas Pesquet lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida at 5:49 a.m. ET Friday.The four crewmembers are now flying through space on their way to catch up to and dock with the station. They are expected to dock at 5:10 a.m. ET Saturday, with the hatch opening a couple hours later. You can watch a live broadcast of their trip through space via NASA TV, which is expected to air continuous coverage through docking.What's next: Once the astronauts arrive on the space station, they will join seven other astronauts and cosmonauts already onboard. Four of the crewmembers are due to fly back to Earth next week. More from Axios: Sign up to get the latest market trends with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free

  • Biden will unveil eye-popping new tax rates for wealthiest Americans

    President Biden in the next few days will unveil eye-popping new tax rates for the wealthiest Americans —a top marginal income tax rate of 39.6% and a capital gains rate of 43.4%.Why it matters: The proposal, to be announced ahead of Biden's address to Congress next Wednesday, is an opening bid for Hill negotiations.Get market news worthy of your time with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free."For New Yorkers, the combined state and federal capital gains rate could be as high as 52.22%. For Californians, it could be 56.7%," Bloomberg News reported.The Dow closed down more than 300 points after the plans leaked.Practically and politically, the White House needs buy-in from Congress to pay for social spending in the next phase of his plan to reshape the American economy, the American Families Plan.Between the lines: Democrats close to the White House believe that the amount of revenue that the IRS can collect on capital gains actually decreases past a certain point, probably in the low 30% range. That means the ultimate capital gains rate could be well below 43.4%Officials haven't yet made clear whether the capital gains rate would apply in 2022 — or in 2021, which would allow the IRS to harness some of this year's massive equities earnings.Goldman Sachs sent out a research note last evening entitled, “No Surprises in President Biden’s Reported Capital Gains Proposal.": "We expect Congress will pass a scaled back version of this tax increase." What we're watching: Biden also is likely to raise more revenue from the wealthy by making changes to estate taxes.Biden wants to change the so-called "stepped up basis" for accounting purposes, and value assets when they are passed on to an heir, not at their original cost.The White House thinks that change could lead more individuals to liquidate assets before they die, allowing the IRS to tax them then instead of encouraging families to keep passing on them for more favorable tax treatment. Editor's note: This story has been corrected to reflect that Biden wants to value estates at how much they are worth when they change hands and remove the so-called "stepped up basis."More from Axios: Sign up to get the latest market trends with Axios Markets. Subscribe for free

  • Therapists share 4 things in your basement that could be causing you stress - and how to handle them

    Too much clutter, not enough light, old, worn-out furniture, and unfinished projects are common stressors lurking in basements, therapists say.

  • Cop dies of COVID at age 32, Texas sheriff says. ‘His whole life was ahead of him’

    “Deputy Gwosdz loved his job. He had a servant’s heart,” the sheriff said.

  • Joy Behar says she misgendered Caitlyn Jenner on The View because she 'didn't get enough sleep'

    Joy Behar is apologizing "if anybody was upset" that she repeatedly misgendered Caitlyn Jenner on The View, blaming it on not getting "enough sleep." Behar drew criticism on Friday after she incorrectly referred to Jenner using "he" or "his" multiple times during a segment about the former athlete's California gubernatorial run, per Mediaite. While Behar did also use the right pronouns throughout the segment, she had to correct her wrong pronoun usage more than once. She subsequently apologized on the air. "Let me apologize for my pronoun mix-up," Behar said. "I think I just didn't get enough sleep last night. I had no intention of mixing them up, and I tried to correct it immediately, but whatever. It just came out. So I'm sorry if anybody was upset by that." Behar's misgendering of Jenner had been called out on Twitter while The View aired, with journalist Yashar Ali taking note of it and writing, "I don't know why Joy misgendered her but it's an important reminder that we don't misgender people even if we don't like their politics." "I think I just didn't get enough sleep last night." WATCH: The View‘s Joy Behar apologized after repeatedly misgendering Caitlyn Jenner in a segment on her run for Governor of California. pic.twitter.com/aN5CvYBq6j — Mediaite (@Mediaite) April 23, 2021 More stories from theweek.comA Black progressive could win in Kentucky — if the Democratic Party gets out of the way7 cartoons about Derek Chauvin being found guiltyCNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta says vaccinated people can generally go maskless outdoors, with some caveats

  • Philippines protests China's 'threatening' South China Sea presence

    The Philippines has sent two new diplomatic protests to China over its failure to withdraw what it called on Friday "threatening" vessels that were massing in contested areas of the South China Sea. The Philippines has ramped up its rhetoric in recent weeks over the lingering presence of hundreds of Chinese boats in its 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), testing relations between two countries that have sought to heal their historic rifts. The Philippine foreign ministry said maritime officials had observed the "continued unauthorised presence and activities" of 160 Chinese fishing and militia vessels around the disputed Spratly islands and Scarborough shoal, as of April 20.

  • The top 9 movies on Netflix this week, from 'Synchronic' to 'Rush'

    "Synchronic," a sci-fi movie starring Anthony Mackie, was the most popular movie on Netflix this week.

  • The 43 actors who have won multiple Oscars, ranked by who has won the most

    Renée Zellweger won her second Oscar last year for "Judy," but some actors have won three or even four trophies.

  • Hundreds of Jewish supremacists chant 'Death to Arabs' as tensions boil over in Jerusalem clashes

    Israeli police were deployed to keep members of the far-right, Jewish extremist group, Lehava, away from crowds of Arab and Israeli counter-protesters.

  • Australia resists calls for tougher climate targets

    The country remains out of step with other major nations by refusing to commit to deeper emissions cuts.

  • Ex-officer who killed Rayshard Brooks wants his job back

    A former Atlanta police officer’s attorney said Thursday that his client didn't get a chance to defend himself before he was fired for fatally shooting Rayshard Brooks, a Black man who had been running away from two white officers after he resisted arrest and fired a stun gun at one of them. Officer Garrett Rolfe was dismissed “without a proper investigation” by the city on June 13, one day after Brooks' death, Rolfe's attorney, Lance LoRusso, told the city's civil service board as he argued for his client's reinstatement to the force, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The encounter outside a Wendy's restaurant last year started calmly but rapidly spun out of control when Atlanta police tried to handcuff and arrest Brooks, 27, for suspected DUI.

  • Bill Bennett: DC statehood is not going anywhere

    'Special Report' panel analyzes Democrat's move to make DC a state and Biden's remarks on climate change