Editor 's note : Brian Levin is director of the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism at California State University , San Bernardino . Jack McDevitt is the director of the Institute on Race and Justice and Associate Dean in the College of Criminal Justice at Northeastern University . Both have testified before Congress in support of federal hate crime legislation and are co-authors of a book on hate in America , due to be published next year . Brian Levin says a new federal hate crime law is needed to combat violent incidents of bias . SAN BERNARDINO , California ( CNN ) -- America needs a coordinated and multifaceted response to combat the continuing scourge of violent hate crime like the crime committed at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum on June 10 . The Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act , originally introduced by Sen. Edward Kennedy a decade ago and nearly passed during the most recent legislative session , is expected to go before the Senate for a vote soon . U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder testified on its behalf Thursday before the Senate Judiciary Committee . It is a crucial step in the nation 's evolving response to hate crime . A hate crime occurs when an individual intentionally targets a victim or their property because of his or her actual or perceived race , color , religion , national origin , ethnicity , gender , gender identity , disability or sexual orientation . While some have argued that these kind of laws criminalize free speech , the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled in the 1993 case , Wisconsin v. Mitchell , that well-drafted hate crime laws are constitutional and do not punish speech . Rather they enhance the penalties only for acts that are already considered crimes . The act is named for Matthew Shepard , a 21-year-old gay college student who was kidnapped , robbed , tortured and left to die , tied to a fence in a remote area outside of Laramie , Wyoming in October 1998 . His mother Judy has been a tireless advocate for hate crime laws and victims . The Shepard Act remedies legal loopholes in federal and state criminal law that fail to protect against bias-motivated attacks based on such characteristics as sexual orientation , gender , gender identity and disability . It also removes antiquated `` Klan era '' language that forces federal prosecutors to tie violent racial attacks to a small number of activities such as participating in a jury , voting or using hotels . As recent events have indicated , today 's violent hate offenders , unlike their predecessors , will often swing into brutal action on their own initiative without waiting for a victim to exercise a specific activity covered by old 1960s laws . However , much of the act 's potency lies not in what it punishes , but rather in its recognition of the primary role local authorities now play in combating hate crime . Nearly all hate crime investigations and prosecutions in the United States are handled by state and local authorities , such as the Boston Police or Washington , D.C. , Metropolitan Police . Gone are the days where masses of federal agents and soldiers had to swoop into states to protect new students and freedom riders from thugs in Klan-dominated municipalities . The act has a clear bias in favor of local prosecution and has restrictions that require federal prosecution only in limited cases where the leadership of the DJ approves . However , reporting data indicates that some states apparently provide limited assistance to hate crime victims . These jurisdictions report either zero hate crimes or a handful of crime to the FBI , year after year , while neighboring states with similar demographics and crime profiles report far more . A 2005 Bureau of Justice Statistics victimization study found that only a small fraction of hate crimes nationally are actually reported . Thus , there appear to be various instances where federal help or prosecution are still necessary . Today , in the midst of our economic downturn , federal authorities are needed much more to assist cash-strapped local departments , not as an unwelcome occupying force , but as a desperately needed partner to assist with forensics , technical assistance and investigations . Even in police departments with model hate crime investigative units , such as the Boston Police Department 's Community Disorders Unit , modern cases increasingly involve interstate travel or Internet hate networks , and require sophisticated ballistic and DNA testing or computer forensics . These measures may be beyond the capacity of many local police agencies , particularly in difficult economic times . The act also provides greater access to local communities for federal training programs and mediation services that can prevent hate crimes before they boil over into violence . Our research has established that hate crimes are a qualitatively unique category of offenses . Compared to non-bias motivated crimes these crimes are more likely to involve violence , injury , hospitalization , psychological trauma and a greater risk of retaliatory attacks , which can often spill across municipal borders . And while we can not say whether hate crimes overall are actually increasing , there does appear to be an increase in the most violent hate crimes . In 2007 , hate-motivated homicides claimed nine lives , up from three in 2006 , and the last year has seen a steady stream of violent plots and attacks against symbolic targets by hardened hate-mongers . Since the beginning of the year we have seen many examples of extremist crimes . Here are a few : . Brockton , Massachusetts : January 21 -- White supremacist Keith Luke 22 , allegedly kills two , rapes one , and shoots another while en route to a synagogue to kill Jews . Miramar Beach , Florida : February 26 -- Dannie Baker , 60 , a man known for anti-immigrant rantings , allegedly shoots 5 , killing two Chilean immigrants . Pittsburgh , Pennsylvania : April 5 -- Neo-Nazi Richard Poplawski , 22 , agitated over the belief that President Obama would ban guns , allegedly kills three police officers during a domestic violence call . New York : May 20 -- Four Muslim converts are arrested on federal charges relating to a plot to bomb Jewish and military targets . Pima County , Arizona : May 30 -- Leaders of the Minuteman American Defense group allegedly kill a 29-year-old Latino man and his nine-year-old daughter in an attempt to steal drugs and money to finance their civilian border patrol group . Washington : June 10 -- Holocaust denier James von Brunn , 88 , allegedly kills a security guard at the U.S . Holocaust Memorial Museum . Two national research reports released last week document a disturbing level of supremacist activities and overall violence against a broad range of groups . Another report from the Southern Poverty Law Center counted a record number of 926 hate groups in the United States last year . But there is something more to hate crime 's harms that can not be completely captured by statistics or criminological studies . As the Holocaust Museum attack demonstrates , hate crimes threaten pluralistic democracies in a way that other crimes do not . Unlike many other crimes , they are at once discriminatory and terroristic . As law professor James Weinstein observed : `` The effect of Kristallnacht on German Jews was greater than the sum of the damage to buildings and assaults on individual victims . '' Violence and threats that destabilize the bonds between citizens and the democratic institutions that they share are worthy of additional punishment and federal assistance . Moreover , victims of hate-motivated violence are entitled to legal protection no matter where they reside . That is why over two-thirds of the American public favor hate crime laws , and why the Senate should heed their call to pass the Shepard Act . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Brian Levin and Jack McDevitt .
Levin , McDevitt : Senate to vote on Matthew Shepard hate crime bill . They say loopholes in existing laws require new legislation . They say bill would provide federal help to localities fighting hate crime . Levin , McDevitt : Hate crimes target pluralistic societies along with victims .