PRESS RELEASE FROM REP. MCAFFREY’S OFFICE
McAffrey Adamantly Opposed to Russell's Proposed Legislation
"Senator Russell is employing the same old tired arguments from yesteryear that have attempted to hold Oklahoma back," McAffrey said. "Preventing crimes against Oklahomans because of who they are is in no way an attack on free speech. That argument is nothing but empty rhetoric used to scare and mislead folks."
Russell said he plans to introduce his bill during the upcoming spring session of the Oklahoma State Legislature. Russell initially considered a way to pass his bill while retaining the $5 million endowed by the federal government to enforce it.
"I don't know about Senator Russell, but I enlisted in the United States Navy to fight for the rights of all Americans regardless of their skin color, gender or who they are," said McAffrey. "Today, I'm serving in the State Legislature to do the same thing: fight for the rights of all Oklahomans. That's a fight I'll never give up."
McAffrey has introduced previous hate crimes legislation in the Oklahoma State House of Representatives and is a champion of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act that was signed into law earlier this year.
PATHOLOGICALLY INSANE OKLA LAWMAKER
DECLARES OPEN HUNTING SEASON ON GAYS
November 5, 2009
As revealed in a Gossip Boy column last week, Oklahoma State Sen. Steve Russell is challenging the new federal hate crimes act. Now details are coming out this morning that portend a dangerous future for LGBTs in the state.
Russell’s proposed law would forbid state and local law enforcement from cooperating with the United State Justice Department’s investigation of a gay hate crime. It even limits what testimony and evidence could be introduced into state court hearings.
What this would mean to you as gays and lesbians: If someone murdered you because you were gay, either the city, county or state police would be the first on scene to gather all the evidence and conduct witness interviews. If federal authorities deemed the event a hate crime and wanted to prosecute it in a federal court they would gain the jurisdiction. Russell’s proposed law would not allow police, sheriffs, or the OSBI, to turn over the evidence or witness statements they gathered during the initial investigation.
The bloody baseball bat or gun used to kill you would not be turned over to federal prosecutors seeking justice for the crime. Nor would anything else that would assist them in removing a killer from society.
In cases that are tried in state court he proposes limits on the types of evidence that can be used. Thus, federal prosecutors would receive absolutely no evidence, while state prosecutors would have their hands tied in the evidence they could use. Killers will walk free.
He rationalizes the outrageous obstruction of justice in a homicide case as protecting free speech and religious beliefs.
With state law obstructing the sharing of evidence, anyone that goes out and kills LGBTs, because of who they are could walk away from the crime free, because the feds won't have the evidence to prosecute and the state won't have the jurisdiction to prosecute gay hate crimes.
That is obstruction of justice done through legislation. Russell and any lawmaker that supports the bill should be prosecuted for conspiracy and imprisoned for the safety and well being of Oklahomans.
Russell joins with like-minded area patriot pastors and Ku Klux Klan members in spreading disinformation about the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. These type of “Christians” have no problem lying, if it allows them to Old Testament-style punish human beings they dislike.
In a press release issued this morning, Russell stated, “Oklahoma currently has tough, good laws that include hate crimes laws. Any murder or brutal assault is hateful. That is the problem with singling out something more with this federal law. I believe this legislation far exceeds the powers of government over states as outlined in the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. I am also very concerned that this loosely defined and ill-conceived legislation could be used to target people’s belief, freedom to associate in groups, right to assemble on issues, as well as target people’s right to free speech.”
What he doesn’t say are that LGBTs are not included in state protections or that his kind votes favorably for hate crime laws that include religion, but only start complaining when gays are included. Further, he promotes disinformation about endangering free speech that has been repeatedly discredited and is only now invoked by the most dimwitted of extremists purchasing generic aluminum foil from Sam’s for their headgear.
He went on to say,”If a crime has been committed, the perpetrator must be held accountable. My concern is that someone may take this new federal hate statute and use it as a way to actually criminalize personal speech, lawful association and religious beliefs.”
And withholding evidence in a murder trial protects free speech and religious expression how? Why not specific wording to protect those instead of throwing a blanket over all the evidence in a murder?
Russell’s kinsmen even have a unique way of interpreting the First Amendment to begin with as they believe the freedoms given for speech, assembly, and the press do not apply to anyone but clergy. They claim the amendment is to really protect sermons, congregations assembling for worship, and printed materials put out by clergy members. They’ve got their unique spin on the Founding Fathers and the Constitution down to an art and all the legal scholars and Supreme Court justices in the nation must be wrong about the interpretation, while former linebacker and current vending machine supplier Pastor Paul Blair must be right.
It’s clear that Russell’s allies will find creative ways to let the murderers of LGBTs off the hook. Their Christian dominionism belief system holds that Jesus will not return to Earth, while homosexuality abounds. That means they can’t have Rapture until all the homosexuals have been re-educated or killed. It is their belief once that occurs the doors of Heaven will swing open and Jesus will come for them.
People sharing Russell’s ideology, like Sally Kern, will legislate the protection of special classes, such as enhancing penalties for assaults on emergency workers, but when gays are introduced into the equation they’re the most vocal about a crime being prosecuted equally. Their lies flow easy.
In furthering his delusional and already discredited claims about free speech and religious beliefs being put at risk, Russell said, “That would be a direct assault on the freedoms this nation was founded upon, and I hope to protect Oklahomans from that erosion of freedom with my legislation. I would also hope other states would follow our lead in defending personal liberty with similar measures.”
Does Russell really want to protect Oklahoma freedoms or does he want to murder gay people, but being too much of a coward to do it himself, needs the ability to incite someone else to do his dirty work and then get that person off?
State Sen. Steve Russell, whose stature suggests a pathological case of Napoleon Complex, appears to some as intentionally misusing Oklahoma law to allow the killing of citizens. That would be cowardly and dishonorable. A man that desires to legally protect the open murder of his fellow citizens can’t be anything but that.
For Immediate Release: November 5, 2009
Russell Moves to Protect Individual and State’s Rights Amid
Concerns Over New Fed Hate Crimes Laws
State Sen. Steve Russell said the recently signed federal hate crimes legislation oversteps the Constitution. He’s authored a bill that will be introduced in the State Senate in 2010 to protect Oklahomans from encroachments on speech, assembly and religious beliefs.
“Oklahoma currently has tough, good laws that include hate crimes laws. Any murder or brutal assault is hateful. That is the problem with singling out something more with this federal law,” said Russell, R-Oklahoma City. “I believe this legislation far exceeds the powers of government over states as outlined in the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. I am also very concerned that this loosely defined and ill-conceived legislation could be used to target people’s belief, freedom to associate in groups, right to assemble on issues, as well as target people’s right to free speech.”
Under Russell’s proposed legislation, Oklahoma courts would bar the admission of any evidence not directly related to a crime when dealing with issues related to speech, assembly and belief.
“For example, if a minister, rabbi or imam preached to a congregation about immoral issues, and then someone took that message to an extreme and actually committed a crime, neither the minister nor the congregation could be charged themselves,” Russell explained. “There would have to be something that directly connected a person or group to the planning or execution of the crime.”
A further measure of the legislation would protect Oklahoma’s right to investigate and prosecute as the state sees fit. If Oklahoma law enforcement officers or district attorneys were investigating a crime that they deemed to be a murder and federal authorities later deemed it was a hate crime and took over the investigation as allowed by the new federal statute, Oklahoma law enforcement would be prohibited from cooperating with the federal investigation in any way.
“Basically, if Oklahoma decided a case that the Feds later wanted to overturn, they would be on their own—we would not share evidence or manpower,” Russell said.
Russell said in no way would he discourage the prosecution of any individual who assaults or murders another, nor would his proposed bill interfere in cases that Oklahoma deemed appropriate under existing state hate crimes laws.
“If a crime has been committed, the perpetrator must be held accountable. My concern is that someone may take this new federal hate statute and use it as a way to actually criminalize personal speech, lawful association and religious beliefs,” Russell said. “That would be a direct assault on the freedoms this nation was founded upon, and I hope to protect Oklahomans from that erosion of freedom with my legislation. I would also hope other states would follow our lead in defending personal liberty with similar measures.”
For more information contact:
Sen. Russell: 405-521-5618
