[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.

[BobL]

Yea, I just like to bring up the way they were punished, without the stupid laws. After all, what more can anyone ask?