Oklahoma Seeks to Opt Out of Hate Crimes Law from Daily Kos

What an asshole:

In an amendment presented on the Senate floor Wednesday afternoon, Sen. Steve Russell, R-Oklahoma City, gutted a bill that had been filed to create a task force to study the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association, and inserted language to make changes to the state's hate crime statutes.

Under the new provisions of Senate Bill 1965, reports that were collected during investigations of possible hate crime that did not end in a conviction would be destroyed or kept by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.

What does that mean? It means that Sen. Russell wants to make sure the big, bad federal government can't come barging into Oklahoma to investigate hate crimes. And lest you think Sen. Russell is an anomaly, he's not. The measure passed by a vote of 39-6 and now heads to the House.

And why do Sen. Russell and pals want to protect Oklahoma from the big, bad federal government?

rest at http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/3/12/845625/-Oklahoma-Seeks-to-Opt-Out-of-Hate-Crimes-Law?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dailykos%2Findex+%28Daily+Kos%29