February 7, 2003, Pennsylvania enacted a 2710, a statute defining hate crimes. Pennsylvania law-makers called it Ethnic Intimidation: A person commits the offense of ethnic intimidation if, with malicious intention toward race, color, religion or national origin of another individual or group of individuals.”
The statute classified the offense as a misdemeanor of the third degree.
In 2005, 2710 of Title 18 was amended in Act 143 to include acts of malicious intention toward the “actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, mental or physical disability, sexual orientation, gender or gender identity,”
However, in an appellate brief filed March 17, 2008, the amendment was overturned. Former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore and attorneys for the Foundation for Moral Law were instrumental in overturning the amendment. They claimed that the state legislature violated the Pennsylvania Constitution when it added language about sexual orientation and gender identity to the Ethnic Intimidation statute during a crop-dusting bill (3310, Agricultural crop destruction).
The Foundation for Moral Law claimed to be a non-profit, religious liberties organization located in Montgomery, Alabama, dedicated to restoring the knowledge of God in law and government through litigation and education relating to moral issues and religious liberty.
The group was defending its members when they were arrested and charged with the ethnic intimidation law for proselytizing at a Philadelphia Pride Parade. Although the charges were eventually dismissed, the Christian evangelists sued the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania. The Commonwealth Court agreed that the law was unconstitutional and struck it down. The petitioners (Marcavage, the Foundation, et al.) asserted that they intended to engage in the same type of activity (proselytizing at LGBT events) in the future and feared that they would be criminally charged again under Act 143.
Moore said, “We are very happy that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled in our favor to stop the Governor and a group of corrupt politicians from sneaking a ‘hate crimes’ bill through the Pennsylvania legislature. Preaching to homosexuals about the sin of sodomy should not be made a ‘thought crime’ in Pennsylvania or any other state.”
Michael Marcavage, director of Repent America, petitioned for the Foundation of Moral Law. He claimed, “The methods used by the Pennsylvania legislature in passing the ‘hate crimes’ bill were extremely devious and yet another chilling example as to how far politicians are willing to go to silence Christian speech that they would violate our own state Constitution to do it.”
Marcavage added, “In a nation that is becoming increasingly hostile toward Biblical Christianity, we remain vigilant as the Pennsylvania legislature will most likely attempt to pass another ‘hate crimes’ bill and are continuing to educate the American people on the significant dangers of such laws.”
While Pennsylvania laws struck down the amendment, Federal laws have sought to uphold hate crime legislation. On October 28, 2009 President Obama signed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which expanded existing United States federal hate crime law to apply to crimes motivated by a victim’s actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.
