LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan House on Tuesday passed a package of bills to reclassify certain offenses as hate crimes and designate the defacement of synagogues, churches or cemeteries as a crime separate from ordinary destruction of property.
The Michigan Hate Crime Act, which passed 59-50 in the Democratic-controlled House, would replace Michigan's 1988 ethnic intimidation law so that more categories of people fall under the law's protections.
The law would expand to include protections based on sex, sexual orientation, age, gender identity or physical or mental disabilities. Religion, ethnicity, and race were already protected under the ethnic intimidation law and would continue to be protected under the hate crime act.
The legislation also would expand which actions qualify as a hate crime, from threats or damage of property under the current law, to targeted force, intimidation, threats, bodily injury or damage of personal property.
Intimidation would be defined as "repeated or continuing harassment of another individual" that would cause them to feel "terrorized, frightened or threatened." It would not include "constitutionally protected activity or conduct that serves a legitimate purpose."
State Rep. Noah Arbit, the West Bloomfield Democrat who helped lead the legislative package, said the bills would bring Michigan from a "national laggard to a national leader" in addressing hate crimes.
Arbit said his experience as a gay and Jewish man fueled his dedication to legislation.
"No Michigander should ever feel unsafe or threatened because of who they are or the community they belong to," Arbit said on the House floor.
A second, two-bill package, the Institutional Desecration Act, passed by margins of 83-26 and 82-27 in the House. The legislation would be used in place of malicious destruction of property if a person intentionally destroys, defaces, damages or threatens facilities such as a place of worship, cultural or community center, cemetery, school, business or digital online assets if the attack was based on an associated group's race, religion, color, sexual orientation, gender identity or physical or mental disability.
Rep. Ranjeev Puri, a Canton Township Democrat who helped sponsor the package, related his family's experience ahead of the vote to explain the targeted intent the bills aimed to address. The lawmaker's family's former place of worship, the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin, was targeted in 2012 by a white supremacist who killed six.
"With other crimes the motive may not always be clear," Puri said. "But with hate crimes the message is extremely clear: It is to send a message that you do not belong here."
Republicans who voted against the hate crimes package voiced concerns Tuesday about broad terms left undefined in the bills and the effect the legislation could have on constitutional free speech rights.
"We are setting our citizens' disagreements up to be criminal prosecutions," said Rep. Andrew Fink, R-Hillsdale.
Violations of the Michigan Hate Crime Act where an injury is not incurred or the perpetrator doesn't have a prior record carries a penalty of up to two years and/or a $5,000 fine.
Violations where someone is injured, suffers "severe mental anguish," is a minor would carry a stiffer penalty of five years and/or a fine of $10,000. Repeat violations, violations carried out by more than one person, violations against a minor or instances where a person is in possession of a firearm at the time carry the same potential penalty.
If found in violation of the proposed "Institutional Desecration Act," an individual could face up to 93 days in prison or up to $500 in fines or a max of 10 years in prison or a fine of $15,000 or three times the cost of damage done. Various other monetary fines also are attached to the act based on different elements of the violation, such as prior offenses or the extent of damages. Many of the penalties mirror what would apply to a malicious destruction of property charge.
Both laws allow for alternative sentences that could replace or reduce a jail sentence or fine that include community service "intended to enhance the offender's understanding of the impact of the offense."
Michigan Incident Crime Reporting data shows there has been a gradual increase in hate or bias incidents in recent years. The numbers increased from 523 in 2017 to 533 in 2018, dipped to 524 in 2019, then increased to 556 in 2020 and 610 in 2021. In 2021, violations based on race made up 57% of those reported.
