House approves bill to simplify Connecticut's hate crime laws
Lawmakers overwhelmingly approved changes intended to simplify Connecticut’s hate crime laws, a move supporters say will help authorities tasked with enforcing them.
The simplification includes consolidating dozens of hate-crime laws into a single section of the state’s general statutes.
“I think it also sends a strong message that we in Connecticut are serious about looking at hate crimes and how we deter those crimes and how we prosecute those crimes,” Rep. Steven Stafstrom (D-Bridgeport) said prior to a House vote Thursday.
The House approved the bill with a 139-9 vote. The Senate approved it unanimously on April 28, meaning the bill now heads to Gov. Ned Lamont for approval.
The push comes as hate crimes have been on the rise around the country.
According to the FBI, there were 11,679 incidents of hate crimes in 2024. That represents a 41% increase from 2019, with the most common motivations being the victim’s race or ethnicity, religion, and sexual orientation.
Connecticut’s hate crime laws are currently spread out across the general statutes, including some falling within laws of the Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities and others alongside those addressing assault, harassment, and other crimes.
“Different legislators, different judiciary chairs, different approaches to how you’re going to handle this, and so it gets spread across, inconsistent penalties,” Rep. Matt Ritter (D-Speaker) said.
Stafstrom said consolidating those laws in one place will help police and prosecutors enforce them. This includes making it easier to determine if hate was a factor in a crime.
The bill also calls on the sentencing commission to review the penalties for hate crimes to see if changes are needed.
“There’s certain things where you say, ‘Gosh that seems like it should be a higher penalty,’ or there’s other things where you say ‘Wait a second ‘that’s a C felony offense?’” Stafstrom said. “That doesn’t seem like it should be a C felony; that seems like it should be lower.”
Rep. Craig Fishbein (R-Wallingford) supported the bill but said he had concerns about lowering penalties for hate crimes.
“Certainly, when somebody attacks someone merely based upon some immutable characteristic of that individual, and not anything else, those are some of the most heinous crimes that we could envision,” he said during the debate.
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