Hate crimes; adds gender, disability, gender identity, or sexual orientation, penalty.
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SB 179 — Hate crimes; adds gender, disability, gender identity, or sexual orientation, penalty.
Last action — Approved by Governor-Chapter 1171 (effective 7/1/20)
No card. One bill, free forever — alerts when it moves.
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✓Introduced
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✓In Committee
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✓Passed Senate
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✓Passed House of Delegates
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✓To Executive
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6Enacted
This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced December 21, 2019. Enacted.
Prognosis
Where this bill stands today.
Odds of enactment
HighHow often bills like it became law.
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Enacted
Current position in the legislative process.
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8 sponsors
1 primary, 7 co-sponsors signed on.
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Cleared a recorded vote
Passed 8 recorded votes so far.
Prognosis reads this bill's own signals — stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes and cross-state momentum. Odds come from a model trained on which bills have become law.
Summary
Hate crimes; gender, disability, gender identity, or sexual orientation; penalty. Adds gender, disability, gender identity, and sexual orientation to the categories of victims whose intentional selection for a hate crime involving assault, assault and battery, or trespass for the purpose of damaging another's property results in a higher criminal penalty for the offense. The bill also adds gender, disability, gender identity, and sexual orientation to the categories of hate crimes that are to be reported to the central repository of information regarding hate crimes maintained by the Virginia State Police. The bill provides that a person who is subjected to acts of intimidation or harassment, violence directed against his person, or vandalism to his real or personal property, where such acts are motivated by gender, disability, gender identity, or sexual orientation, may bring a civil action to recover his damages. The bill also provides that no provider or user of an interactive computer service on the Internet shall be liable for any action voluntarily taken by it in good faith to restrict access to material that the provider or user considers to be intended to incite hatred on the basis of gender, disability, gender identity, or sexual orientation. The bill also eliminates the mandatory minimum terms of confinement for such hate crimes.
Bill Text
What changed in the latest version
34 added · 26 removedPlain-language change summary
The changes to the bill SB 179 involve updating references to sessions of the Virginia Assembly and clarifying definitions related to hate crimes. Notably, the language around penalties for hate crimes, such as assault and battery motivated by bias against someone’s race, gender, or sexual orientation, was slightly restructured. This matters because it ensures that the bill accurately reflects current legislative session data and maintains clear and consistent penalties for hate crimes, helping to strengthen protections for vulnerable communities.
Code of Virginia Administrative Code Bills & Resolutions Summaries OTHER SESSIONS - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Session Session Special Session I Session Special Session I Session Special Session I Special Session II Session Special Session I Session Special Session I Session Special Session I Special Session II Session Session Session Special Session I Session Special Session I Session Special Session I Session Special Session I Session Special Session I Session Session Special Session I Session Special Session I Special Session II Session Session Special Session I Session Session Special Session I Special Session II Session Session Session Special Session I Session Session Session Special Session I Session Session Session Session Special Session I Special Session II VIRGINIA LAW PORTALCode of VirginiaVirginia Administrative Code Constitution of VirginiaChartersAuthoritiesCompacts Uncodified ActsRIS Users (account required) SEARCHABLE DATABASESBills & Resolutionssession legislationBill Summariessession summaries Reports to the General AssemblyHouse and Senate documents Legislative LiaisonsState agency contactsACROSS SESSIONS Subject Index:
SESSION history | hilite | pdf | print version VIRGINIA ACTS OF ASSEMBLY -- CHAPTER 1171 An Act to amend and reenact §§ 8.01-42.1, 8.01-49.1, 18.2-57, 18.2-121, and 52-8.5 of the Code of Virginia, relating to hate crimes;
[S 179] Approved April 11, 2020 Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
View plain text versions (5)
- Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP1171) View text Current html April 11, 2020
- Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB179ER) View text html March 06, 2020
- Committee Substitute Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute with amendment SB179ES1 html February 07, 2020
- Impact statement from VCSC (SB179S1) View text html January 15, 2020
- Impact statement from VCSC (SB179) View text html December 21, 2019
Action History
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Approved by Governor-Chapter 1171 (effective 7/1/20)
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Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2020
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Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on March 12, 2020
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Signed by Speaker
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Signed by President
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Impact statement from DPB (SB179ER)
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Enrolled
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House amendment agreed to by Senate (22-Y 17-N)
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VOTE: Passage (55-Y 44-N)
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Passed House with amendment (55-Y 44-N)
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Engrossed by House as amended
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Committee amendment agreed to
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Read third time
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Read second time
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Reported from Courts of Justice with amendment (13-Y 9-N)
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Subcommittee recommends referring to Committee on Appropriations
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Subcommittee recommends reporting with amendment (5-Y 3-N)
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Assigned Courts sub: Criminal
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Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice
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Read first time
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Placed on Calendar
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Impact statement from DPB (SB179ES1)
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Read third time and passed Senate (26-Y 13-N)
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Printed as engrossed 20105706D-ES1
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Engrossed by Senate - committee substitute with amendment SB179ES1
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Committee amendment agreed to
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Reading of amendment waived
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Committee substitute agreed to 20105706D-S1
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Reading of substitute waived
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Read second time
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Constitutional reading dispensed (40-Y 0-N)
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Reported from Finance and Appropriations with amendment (15-Y 1-N)
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Impact statement from DPB (SB179S1)
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Impact statement from VCSC (SB179S1)
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Rereferred to Finance and Appropriations
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Committee substitute printed 20105706D-S1
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Reported from Judiciary with substitute (8-Y 3-N)
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Moved from Courts of Justice to Judiciary due to a change of the committee name
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Impact statement from VCSC (SB179)
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Referred to Committee on the Judiciary
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Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20102367D
Sponsors
- Barbara A. Favola · Primary
- Jennifer B. Boysko · Cosponsor
- Joseph D. Morrissey · Cosponsor
- Jennifer L. McClellan · Cosponsor
- Kaye Kory · Cosponsor
- Adam P. Ebbin · Cosponsor
- Lewis, Lynwood W., Jr. · Cosponsor
- John J. Bell · Cosponsor
Sponsorship breakdown
Export CSV (upgrade) →1 sponsors · 7 co-sponsors · 140 not signed on · 58 voted No
Sponsors (1)
Co-sponsors (7)
- Jennifer B. Boysko
- Joseph D. Morrissey
- Jennifer L. McClellan
- Kory, Kaye
- Adam P. Ebbin
- Lewis, Lynwood W., Jr.
- Bell, John J.
Not signed on (140)
140 members have not signed on to this bill.
Show all 140 →"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.
Votes
| Party | Yea | Nay | Present | Not Voting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unaffiliated | 22 | 17 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 22 | 17 | 0 | 1 |
| % of votes cast | 55% | 43% | 0% | 3% |
How each member voted (40)
| Party | Yea | Nay | Present | Not Voting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unaffiliated | 54 | 44 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 54 | 44 | 0 | 1 |
| % of votes cast | 55% | 44% | 0% | 1% |
How each member voted (99)
| Party | Yea | Nay | Present | Not Voting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unaffiliated | 13 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 13 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| % of votes cast | 59% | 41% | 0% | 0% |
How each member voted (22)
| Member | Party | Vote |
|---|---|---|
| Lindsey, Joseph C. | — | Yea |
| Collins, Christopher E. | — | Nay |
| Adams, Les R. | — | Nay |
| Bell, Robert B. | — | Nay |
| Bourne, Jeffrey M. | — | Yea |
| Campbell, Jeffrey L. | — | Nay |
| Campbell, Ronnie R. | — | Nay |
| Carroll Foy, Jennifer D. | — | Yea |
| Charniele L. Herring | — | Yea |
| Don Scott | — | Yea |
| Heretick, Steve E. | — | Yea |
| James A. "Jay" Leftwich | — | Nay |
| Karrie K. Delaney | — | Yea |
| Levine, Mark H. | — | Yea |
| Marcus B. Simon | — | Yea |
| Miyares, Jason S. | — | Nay |
| Mullin, Michael P. | — | Yea |
| Patrick A. Hope | — | Yea |
| Ransone, Margaret B. | — | Nay |
| Richard C. "Rip" Sullivan, Jr. | — | Yea |
| Terry G. Kilgore | — | Nay |
| Vivian E. Watts | — | Yea |
| Party | Yea | Nay | Present | Not Voting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unaffiliated | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 5 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| % of votes cast | 56% | 33% | 0% | 11% |
How each member voted (9)
| Member | Party | Vote |
|---|---|---|
| Collins, Christopher E. | — | Nay |
| Adams, Les R. | — | Nay |
| Bell, Robert B. | — | Nay |
| Carroll Foy, Jennifer D. | — | Yea |
| Charniele L. Herring | — | Not Voting |
| Don Scott | — | Yea |
| Karrie K. Delaney | — | Yea |
| Mullin, Michael P. | — | Yea |
| Vivian E. Watts | — | Yea |
| Party | Yea | Nay | Present | Not Voting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unaffiliated | 26 | 13 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 26 | 13 | 0 | 1 |
| % of votes cast | 65% | 33% | 0% | 3% |
How each member voted (40)
| Party | Yea | Nay | Present | Not Voting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unaffiliated | 40 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 40 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| % of votes cast | 100% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
How each member voted (40)
| Party | Yea | Nay | Present | Not Voting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unaffiliated | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| % of votes cast | 94% | 6% | 0% | 0% |
How each member voted (16)
| Member | Party | Vote |
|---|---|---|
| McClellan, Jennifer L. | — | Yea |
| Barker, George L. | — | Yea |
| David W. Marsden | — | Yea |
| Ebbin, Adam P. | — | Yea |
| Edwards, John S. | — | Yea |
| Hanger, Emmett W., Jr. | — | Yea |
| Howell, Janet D. | — | Yea |
| L. Louise Lucas | — | Yea |
| Mamie E. Locke | — | Yea |
| Newman, Stephen D. | — | Nay |
| Norment, Thomas K., Jr. | — | Yea |
| Petersen, J. Chapman | — | Yea |
| R. Creigh Deeds | — | Yea |
| Ruff, Frank M., Jr. | — | Yea |
| Saslaw, Richard L. | — | Yea |
| Vogel, Jill Holtzman | — | Yea |
| Party | Yea | Nay | Present | Not Voting |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unaffiliated | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 8 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| % of votes cast | 73% | 27% | 0% | 0% |
How each member voted (11)
| Member | Party | Vote |
|---|---|---|
| Edwards, John S. | — | Yea |
| Saslaw, Richard L. | — | Yea |
| Petersen, J. Chapman | — | Yea |
| McClellan, Jennifer L. | — | Yea |
| Chafin, A. Benton "Ben" | — | Nay |
| Morrissey, Joseph D. | — | Yea |
| Jennifer B. Boysko | — | Yea |
| Mark D. Obenshain | — | Nay |
| R. Creigh Deeds | — | Yea |
| Ryan T. McDougle | — | Nay |
| Scott A. Surovell | — | Yea |
Subjects
Frequently asked questions
- What does SB 179 do?
- Hate crimes; gender, disability, gender identity, or sexual orientation; penalty. Adds gender, disability, gender identity, and sexual orientation to the categories of victims whose intentional selection for a hate crime involving assault, assault and battery, or trespass for the purpose of damaging another's property results in a higher criminal penalty for the offense. The bill also adds gender, disability, gender identity, and sexual orientation to the categories of hate crimes that are to be reported to the central repository of information regarding hate crimes maintained by the Virginia State Police. The bill provides that a person who is subjected to acts of intimidation or harassment, violence directed against his person, or vandalism to his real or personal property, where such acts are motivated by gender, disability, gender identity, or sexual orientation, may bring a civil action to recover his damages. The bill also provides that no provider or user of an interactive computer service on the Internet shall be liable for any action voluntarily taken by it in good faith to restrict access to material that the provider or user considers to be intended to incite hatred on the basis of gender, disability, gender identity, or sexual orientation. The bill also eliminates the mandatory minimum terms of confinement for such hate crimes.
- Who sponsors SB 179?
- SB 179 is sponsored by Barbara A. Favola, Jennifer B. Boysko, Joseph D. Morrissey, Jennifer L. McClellan, Kory, Kaye, Adam P. Ebbin, Lewis, Lynwood W., Jr., and Bell, John J..
- What is the current status of SB 179?
- This bill has been enacted into law. Introduced December 21, 2019. Enacted.
- Where can I track SB 179?
- Track SB 179 free on One Click Politics — get push/email alerts when it moves.
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