Hate Crimes Bill is Back

Earlier, I wrote about how the federal hate crimes bill contains provisions that would undermine protections against double-jeopardy and constitutional federalism safeguards (see here, here, here, here, and here).

The hate crimes bill passed the House, but the President’s advisors recommended he veto it on federalism grounds. The bill’s supporters can’t muster the two-thirds vote needed to override a presidential veto, so it looked like the bill might die.

Now, however, the bill’s supporters, such as Ted Kennedy, have come up with a clever way to get around a presidential veto. They plan to attach it as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act. That way, they hope to force the administration to accept it in exchange for support for our troops.