No Hate Crimes; Safer School Buses

by Dora Raymaker · 2009-07-08 10:03:00 UTC
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the door and partial front end of a yellow school bus. the door is twisted open and sticks and vines fill the entry into the busThe Matthew Shepard Act is something I've been following here, but in a relatively abstract way. What does the bill, if it passes, actually mean? What are some of the practical applications for people on the spectrum?

Media Dis & Dat links into a post from School Transportation News headlined Federal hate crimes bill would protect students with disabilities on school buses. The article is just about the Matthew Shepard Act and doesn't mention school buses, but the fact that it was posted on a school transportation site implies that the school transportation folks are thinking about it.

Kristina has followed some school bus abuse articles (and also here, and here). Without getting into details, people were not kind to me the yellow school bus 30+ years ago. School bus hate crimes are a big problem, both past and present.

If the bill is passed, those found guilty of injuring a person based on their disability could be imprisoned for up to 10 years. If a person is found guilty of killing, kidnapping or sexually abusing someone because of their disability, or even attempting any of the aforementioned crimes, the maximum prison sentence would be life. In addition to disabilities, the Matthew Shepard Act would protect people injured or murdered because of their actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity.

One reason why abuse of autistics continues is because the consequences of getting caught are often minimal, especially compared to the consequences if the abused person was in a privileged class. So a bill like the Matthew Shepard Act would start helping some with that issue.

Hate crimes and abuse are complex however; there may be more to it than just a piece of legislation.

Still, stronger sentencing is a huge step in the right direction.

Dora Raymaker
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