Presently, there are no Hate Crime Laws covering LGBT people that are assaulted in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania passed a hate crime law in 2002 that covered LGBT people, but the Pennsylvania Supreme Court struck it down in 2008 on a technicality: legislators inserted the language into an unrelated bill on agricultural terrorism, changing that bills purpose during the legislative process, which violates the Pennsylvania Constitution. Legislation was introduced in several sessions to reinstate the law, but it never made it out of committee.
Posted on: Wed, 24 Sep 2014 21:15:03 +0000