Civil rights are the fifth priority of the FBI and the second priority of the criminal investigation department. Alpha Phi Sigma, the National Criminal Justice Honor Society, hosted Agent Judy Sykes with the FBI on Tuesday night to give a presentation on the FBI's civil rights program.
There are four civil rights subprograms, in order of priority: hate crimes, color of law, involuntary servitude and slavery, and freedom of access into clinical entrance act. The breakdown of cases in 2009 was: color of law (53 percent) followed by hate crimes (23 percent), servitude (22 percent) and Freedom of Access to Clinical Entrance (three percent).
Hate crimes have a three-prong test. There must be the threat of use of force, the crimes must be motivated by a bias due to a person's race, religion or national origin/ethnicity and there must be interference with federally protected activities. Federally protected activities include education, employment, public accommodation, and access to state facilities.
The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crime Prevention Act of 2009 was signed into legislation by President Barack Obama, and it was the first time sexual orientation and gender identity crimes were prosecuted under federal law. The act is named for two individuals who were attacked due to bias.
In 1998, Shepard was given a ride home by two males from the Fireside Lounge in Laramie, Wyoming. The two men, instead of taking Shepard home, took him to a remote area and beat and tortured him, then left him tied to fence to die. Shepard was attacked due to his sexual orientation.
Also in 1998, Byrd Jr. was walking on a dirt road when three men pulled over in a truck and invited him out for a beer. After they drank, the men took him to a wooded area and beat him until he was unconscious. They chained him by his ankles to the back of a pickup truck and drug him for a quarter of a mile. His body became caught up in a ditch when they made a turn, and he was decapitated.
The act prohibits the intentional causing or attempt to cause bodily harm because of sexual orientation, gender or other bias if the act takes place in interstate or foreign commerce or in maritime or territorial jurisdiction. "I think with the new Matthew Shepard James Byrd Jr. legislation, when they added the hate crime in terms of sexual orientation that really opened up a lot of avenues for people who might have been victimized in the past," explained Sykes. " … It protects them where before they really had no avenue to pursue in the event that they were being harassed or victimized by any person or group because of that."
Involuntary servitude and slavery is heavily involved with the sex trade. Trafficking is the crime of compelling or coercing the labor or services of another person against that person's will. Smuggling, on the other hand, is when someone is transported illegally into the country to work a job.
Trafficking involves between 15,000 and 18,000 people annually and brings in $3.5 billion annually, making it a fast growing field. In Richmond, the Hispanic community is involved in trafficking the most, followed by the Asian community and the Russian community.
The FACE Act is the subprogram with the fewest violations. It prevents intentional injury, intimidation or interference with persons because they are seeking or providing reproductive health services, the intimidation of others to keep them from seeking or providing such services, and/or the damage or destruction of the property of a facility that provides reproductive health care services. An example of a violation of the FACE Act would be bombing or ramming a car into an abortion clinic, both of which have occurred in the past.
Color of Law prevents crimes such as excessive force, sexual assault, failure to keep from harm, deprivation of medical attention, deprivation of property, prevention of false evidence or false arrest. Those who have been given authority by a government agency cannot abuse the power given to them.
An example of an abuse of power is if a police officer beats a suspect who has been pulled over. The FACE Act is meant to protect individuals from that sort of victimization.
"Hate starts at home too. If you can't stop the progression of it at home, it's going to continue on … I think everyone needs to be aware of hate crimes. I think only by being aware and educated about it are you willing to maybe intervene. It affects everyone. It's not just a race or a religion. It's everyone," said Sykes.
