WASHINGTON — US Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, along with several other Senators, are pushing for the passage of the "Khalid Jabara-Heather Heyer NO HATE Act."
The bill's goal is to curb the recent rise of hate crimes in communities across the country. It's named in part for Heather Heyer, a counter-protester who was killed during the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville back in 2017.
One of the main goals of the "NO HATE Act" is to improve hate crime reporting. The bill would provide money for states to set up their own Hate Crime Hotlines, hopefully giving people a place to report incidents and learn about local support services.
Law enforcement agencies would also receive training to better identify, investigate, and report suspected hate crimes. They'd also learn new ways to build relationships with communities that are targeted by these crimes.
Under the bill, judges would also get more leeway with how they sentence people convicted of hate crimes. In some cases, it would send them back into the communities they targeted to receive education or do community service.