Pa. High Court Strikes Down Homosexual 'Hate Crimes' Law
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Wednesday tossed out language that expanded the state's hate crime law to include "sexual orientation" and "gender identity."
The top state court upheld a November 2007 ruling by the Commonwealth Court, which had struck down the 2002 amendment as unconstitutional because it "did not retain its original purpose as it moved through the enactment process." The Commonwealth Court ruled that the statute violated the state Constitution because it was added to a bill that originally dealt with agricultural crimes.
Eleven members of a Christian evangelist group called Repent America were arrested and charged under the expanded "ethnic intimidation" law in 2004 for picketing at a Philadelphia event for homosexuals....