Wyo. Changes Sluggishly Since Shepard Murder

(NEWSER) - With Congress set to pass strengthened hate crime legislation this summer, Conservative Christian leaders are ratcheting up their opposition to a bill that would extend those protections to gays and lesbians, USA Today reports. Conservative leaders say they’re worried that clergy who preach against homosexuality could end up liable for inciting hate crimes, and have called for the repeal of all hate-crime laws as “extraneous and obsolete.” More»

Deryl Dedmon gets life for running over black man

(NEWSER) - A white Mississippi teenager who murdered a black man because of the color of his skin has received two life sentences after pleading guilty to killing the victim by driving over him with his pickup in a hate crime. Authorities say Deryl Dedmon, 19, was part of a group of rural teens who decided to drive to Jackson to attack black people after a night of drinking last summer. The gang found auto worker James Craig Anderson, 47, and beat him up before Dedmon ran him over. Other teens in the group are expected to face charges for that attack and others, notes AP. More»

Rutgers student may be deported to India in Tyler Clementi case

(NEWSER) - A jury convicted ex-Rutgers student Dharun Ravi of hate crimes and other offenses today for using a webcam to record and distribute video that outed his roommate, Tyler Clementi, as gay. After three days of deliberations, the jury found Ravi guilty of bias intimidation and invasion of privacy for making the recording, and of tampering with evidence and witnesses for trying to delete Twitter and text messages in which he'd urged others to watch it, the New York Times reports. More»

Cops launch hate crime probe

(NEWSER) - Police have launched a hate crime investigation into vandalism of a "gay nativity" scene outside a California church. The scene at Claremont United Methodist Church featured three wooden light boxes portraying a heterosexual and two homosexual couples holding hands beneath a Star of Bethlehem and the words: "Christ is Born." The gay couples were pushed over, reports the Los Angeles Times . The church has a history of featuring social or political messages in its nativity scenes, but they have never before been vandalized. "Christ's birth in a stable had a lot to do with being marginalized," said the church pastor. "What this church has tried to do through these scenes is say, 'What would that look like today?'" More»

Brandon McInerney reaches plea deal

(NEWSER) - A California teen will go to prison for 21 years for shooting his gay classmate to death in a middle school computer lab in 2008. The plea deal was reached yesterday; in Brandon McInerney’s first trial, the jury deadlocked . In order to avoid a second trial, McInerney, now 17, pleaded guilty to second-degree and voluntary manslaughter, and prosecutors agreed not to pursue another trial—which could have potentially landed McInerney a life sentence. The father of victim Larry King said the family supports the deal, but still places blame at the feet of school officials. More»