HARTFORD, CT – The Connecticut Hate Crimes Advisory Council, along with Gov. Ned Lamont, law enforcement officials, and other advocates announced an effort to simplify and strengthen the state’s hate crimes statutes on Thursday.
The legislative proposal seeks to consolidate Connecticut’s multiple hate crime statutes, with some written as early as 1880, into one new hate crime chapter in the Connecticut General Statutes. The consolidation effort will also clarify the language of existing hate crime statutes by making the language used to describe protected groups uniform, as well as by removing the requirement under the law that a defendant must have acted “maliciously.”
Finally, the proposal will clearly define certain criminal acts as hate crimes, and offer enhanced penalties for individuals convicted of committing a hate crime.
“The goal, of course, is to make sure that if any citizen in our state is subjected to a hate crime or a hate incident, they know there’s a place to go and that they will be heard by the state officials,” said Judge Douglas Levine, co-chair of the Connecticut Hate Crimes Advisory Council that led the consolidation effort. “The proposal coming out of this council to simplify and clarify the law of hate crimes, will be a good thing for the people, a good thing for the prosecutors, and yes, even a good thing for the defense lawyers because they will understand the law better.”
The Connecticut Hate Crimes Advisory Council was created by the General Assembly, and members were appointed by the governor in June 2021. The council is tasked with increasing community awareness and reporting of hate crimes. It also can make recommendations for legislation concerning hate crimes, including recommendations on restitution for victims, community service designed to remedy damage caused by any such crime, and additional alternative sentencing programs for first-time offenders and juvenile offenders.
UConn Law School Prof. Sachin Pandya, who also is a member of the advisory council, went into further detail on what changes the consolidated laws embody.
“The proposal puts all the hate crimes in one place in the criminal code,” Pandya said. “That makes it easier for police to find them. It makes them more consistent in what they require and who they protect. That makes the law easier to understand and enforce. It adds hate crime penalty enhancements for crimes involving physical injury or property damage, including for murder, arson, and other more serious crimes.”
Pandya continued: “It extends the attorney general’s authority to investigate and bring civil actions on behalf of victims of any hate crime, not just a select view. It authorizes judges to order participation in anti-bias programs for someone convicted of any hate crime, not just a select few.”
Ronnell Higgins, commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, applauded the proposal saying that it would lead to fresh progress in combating bigotry and bias in the state. He said that there had been a 50% increase in the number of hate crimes in the state, from 87 in 2021 to 130 through the third quarter of 2024.
“As this work grows and evolves, my message has been clear,” he said. “We will investigate all hate crimes and we will investigate all reports of bigotry and bias. Our holistic and inter-agency approach sends a clear message that we’ve seen signs of improvement and declines of bias-motivated events, but there’s still work to do.”
A new website was also revealed in conjunction with the legislative proposal. ReportHate.ct.gov is an online portal where residents who have either been the victim of or witnessed a bias or hate incident can report the location, date, and time of an incident, the type of incident, and the kind of bias displayed.
“As many of you know, hate crimes are vastly and systemically underreported, and for that reason the council determined that we needed to put together a public-facing reporting portal by which the public could report these hate crimes,” said Michelle Querijero, a board member of the CT Asian Pacific American Bar Association and member of the advisory council.
Querijero worked with Ken Barone, the project manager for the CT Racial Profiling Prohibition Project, on developing the online portal.
“Connecticut is one of the first states in the country to create a public reporting tool for hate crimes, bias incidents, and crimes with bias elements,” Barone said. “All of that information is being funneled to the state police hate crimes unit so they can help develop the appropriate response.”
Lamont said that the effects of hate could spread like a ripple in a dangerous way, and thanked the advocates and law enforcement officials who worked on the proposal.
“When you hear from the [Anti-Defamation League], when you see the news, when you see that racist language out there, it’s a crime against that individual,” Lamont said. “It’s also a dog whistle to others to commit similar type crimes. And that’s why we take this with the utmost seriousness. That’s why we treat it differently than just an individual crime. And this is why every day we want to make it easier for you to report this, easier for us to be able to enforce it, and make sure people know we’re here fighting for you.”
Sen. John Kissel, R-Enfield, and Sen. Stephen Harding, R-Brookfield, released a joint statement celebrating Connecticut’s status as a leader in creating strong hate crime laws and thanking local, state, and federal law enforcement for addressing what they referred to as “disgusting” crimes.
“These outrageous and cowardly actions must be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” they said. “When someone becomes the target of a crime because of race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or disability, the very fabric and soul of our community is torn.”