The governor is expected to sign it into law, the first ever of its kind in the US.
Passed by both the House and the Senate, HB 953 expands the state’s hate-crime law to include law enforcement officers, firefighters and medical first responders.
Under the bill, anyone convicted of a hate-motivated felony against an officer may face up to a $5,000 fine and up to five years of prison, while a misdemeanor hate crime against an officer comes with a maximum $500 fine and six-month prison sentence.
It is now awaiting the signature of Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards, who has expressed his support for the measure.
“The members of the law enforcement community deserve these protections, and I look forward to signing this bill into law,”
the governor said in a statement, stressing his
“greatest respect for the men and women who put their lives on the line every day.”
Edwards, a
“son and brother of a sheriff” himself, could sign the bill into law as early as this
week, according to Talking Points Memo.
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