Charges brought for 1996 Hiker Slayings

From http://www.msnbc.com/news/737036.asp -

Federal prosecutors announced Wednesday that a Maryland man had been charged with murdering two hikers in Shenandoah National Park in 1996, a brutal crime that prompted fears among hikers nationwide.

Two lesbians were bound and gagged and their throats slit. They were found in Shenandoah National Park (near where I live) on June 1, 1996.

That's your background information, but it's not really important. Here's what's important.

Civil Rights groups praised the Justice Department for declaring that anti-gay bias was an element of the crime.

Wait, it gets better.

Just as the United States will pursue, prosecute and punish terrorists who attack America out of hatred for what we believe, we will pursue, prosecute and punish those who attack law-abiding Americans out of hatred for who they are. These families have suffered what Americans now know all too well. That’s the pain and destruction wrought by hate.

They are including anti-gay bias while prosecuting this crime. What's more, the above quote was from <b>John Ashcroft</b>.

Read it again. "Just as the United States..."

John Ashcroft!

He approved the inclusion of the anti-gay bias. This is just surprising as all hell to me, as well as his above quote. I know he's linking it to terrorism, and in a sense it is, simply because of the fear that it instilled in hikers. I wouldn't go all out and call it "terrorism", but excuse Ashcroft of saying that for just a second.

I gotta give him mad props for that one. Acknowledging that this was indeed a hate crime (read article for more info) prosecuting it as such.

Wow.

[jaguar]

Was this quoted on April 1?

[MaggieL]

It *is* pretty amazing to see John "brass boob" Ashcroft prosecuing a hate crime against lesbians.

Still, we'd rather seen gays and lesbians defending themselves effectively than relying on an additional laws to make murder a capital crime...it already *is* a capital crime, and they can fry this scum becuase he murdered *humans*, not just because they're lesbians.

http://www.pinkpistols.org

Well, there are no federal hate crime laws, so they're not actually basing the charge on that. He's still going to be tried for murder, period. However, since they apparently have substantial evidence that he's a gay hater (and lesbians in particular), they're pushing that as well, probably in an attempt to show that he's a real shitbag and should be executed or tossed in jail for life.

Even so... it just amazed me to read those words from John Ashcroft. I was seriously stunned.

[MaggieL]

Originally posted by dhamsaic
Well, there are no federal hate crime laws, so they're not actually basing the charge on that. He's still going to be tried for murder, period.

From the AP coverage:
-----------------------------------------------
Federal authorities had automatic jurisdiction in the case because the slayings took place on U.S. government land. A federal hate-crimes law covers crimes motivated by race and religion, but not sex or sexual orientation. An effort to add those categories failed two years ago.

The Justice Department was able to push for a hate-crimes type of indictment in this case, however, because comments Rice allegedly made in prison indicate he selected the women "because of the actual or perceived gender or sexual orientation" of his victims.

Rice was charged with four counts of capital murder:

-One count for each murder on the basis of Rice's motivation, which allows prosecutors to introduce more evidence than a straight murder charge.

-One conventional murder charge for each woman's death in case the "hate crime" charges are rejected by a jury, department officials said. Conviction on any of the charges could bring Rice the death penalty. ----------------------------------------------------

If the women had been armed, the government wouldn't need to try him now, and his subsequent assaults on women would not have occured. And the women would be alive.

http://www.pinkpistols.org