Civil and Human Rights Coalition Urges Kentucky to Reject House Bill 14

WASHINGTON—Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement calling on the Kentucky legislature to reject House Bill 14.

“H.B. 14 is unnecessary and an affront to the fundamental reasons for hate crimes legislation.

Violence against any person, including our courageous police officers, firefighters, and emergency medical personnel, is unacceptable. That’s why it’s already a serious crime in Kentucky to threaten or use force against law enforcement officers. Moreover, this legislation does nothing to improve officer wellness and safety.

At their core, hate crimes laws are intended to protect individuals and communities who have immutable characteristics or experienced a ‘long legacy of violence, intimidation, and discrimination.’ A career, no matter how admirable, is not an identity like race, religion, ethnicity, gender, disability or sexual orientation.

If lawmakers in Kentucky are serious about protecting our men and women in blue, they should pursue measures that actually do that.”

Wade Henderson is the president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its 200-plus member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.