[BobL]

“James Byrd Jr. was an African-American man who was murdered by three white supremacists in Jasper, Texas, on June 7, 1998. Shawn Berry, Lawrence Brewer, and John King dragged him for three miles behind a pickup truck along an asphalt road.”

And note that two of those people were executed, while the third gets to live because he sang, but will never leave jail.

...and all that punishment happened WITHOUT a hate crimes bill being law.

So I wonder what problem were they trying to solve with the new laws?

[Robert DeLong]

According to court documents, John Russell Howald, 44, of Basin, is charged with violating the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, and with the use of a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.

...and all that punishment happened WITHOUT a hate crimes bill being law.

I assume you mean at the time. Since the person with whom I had responded to was talking about a present day scenario, I was telling him that one would be prosecuted due to the skin color referenced.

Personally I abhor hate crime charges. Because the crime is heinous enough to mete out the most dire of sentences.