The New Jersey State Assembly voted last week to prohibit the use of “gay panic” or “trans panic” defenses in murder cases.
The Democrat-run lower house voted 73-0 to pass the bill, which prevents defendants — and their attorneys — from downgrading charges of murder to manslaughter by arguing that fear or anger at discovering a victim’s LGBTQ identity was justification for them to act out violently.
“Nobody should ever be excused for murder because their victim is either gay or transgender,” Michele Jaker, a board member for Garden State Equality, told NJTV News.
“We consider it legal malpractice when it comes up,” Jaker said of the defense. “But when you have an attorney whose client is being accused of murder, you will look for any defense that can be used. So we would like to see it off the books.”
Assemblyman John McKeon (D-West Orange), the bill’s sponsor, compared the bill’s passage to other pro-LGBTQ developments, including the legislature’s approval of civil unions, the legalization of marriage equality, and the passage of a bill banning conversion therapy, calling it a “proud moment” for New Jersey.
The bill also got the stamp of approval from Minority Leader Jon Bramnick (R-Westfield), who called it a “significant piece of legislation.”
The bill now heads to the Senate, where it is expected to be approved, and then to the desk of Gov. Phil Murphy (D), who is expected to sign it into law.
The bill was first introduced in New Jersey in 2014, during the administration of former Gov. Chris Christie (R), but never received a full vote.
The American Bar Association, which has endorsed eliminating the use of the “gay panic” defense, says that eight states — California, Illinois, Rhode Island, Nevada, Connecticut, Maine, Hawaii, and New York — have already banned the practice, which it calls a form of discrimination, and hopes other states will follow suit.
“It must be noted that gay/trans panic is not an affirmative legal defense; it is a tactic to strengthen the defense by playing on prejudice,” the ABA said in a statement earlier this summer. “It has, however, been used to not only explain a defendant’s actions, but to excuse them as well.”
Idaho Republican Gov. Brad Little signed a bill into law prohibiting Medicaid and state employee health plans from covering the cost of gender-affirming medications and procedures for low-income transgender adults and minors.
House Bill 668 declares that public funds "shall not reimburse or provide coverage for any surgical operation or medical intervention...for purposes of altering the appearance of an individual in order to affirm the individual's perception of the individual's sex in a way that is inconsistent with the individual's biological sex."
The bill contains exemptions for certain types of surgical operations or medical interventions, such as those deemed medically necessary; those meant to force intersex people or those with "a medically verifiable genetic disorder of sex development" to conform to binary bodily stereotypes; and those used to help a person "de-transition" or to treat an "infection, injury, disease or disorder that has been caused or exacerbated by" gender-affirming surgery.
A Texas court blocked Republican State Attorney General Ken Paxton's office from demanding information and documents from PFLAG that might reveal the identities of families seeking out gender-affirming care for transgender children.
Last week, Travis County District Court Judge Amy Clark Meachum issued a temporary injunction blocking Paxton's office from demanding the information, writing that "immediate and irreparable injury, loss, or damage will result to PFLAG and its members" if Paxton's office is able to obtain information about the group's members, which number close to 600 in Texas alone.
Two members of the Aryan Knights prison gang successfully pulled off a headline-grabbing escape from the custody of Idaho prison officials before murdering two men, including a gay man with whom one of the men had previously been acquainted.
According to the Boise Police Department, on March 19, Skylar Meade, a prisoner at the Idaho Maximum Security Prison, was transported to Saint Alphonsus Regional Medical Center in Boise to be treated for self-inflicted injuries. He was discharged just after 2 a.m. on May 20.
While the 31-year-old Meade was being transported from the hospital, Nicholas "Moose" Umphenour, a former Maximum Security Prison inmate, opened fire and shot two Idaho Department of Correction officers. Umphenour and Meade then fled the scene in a gray sedan.
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