N.Y. Considers Anti-Noose Legislation
New York state lawmakers Monday took a step toward making it a felony to etch, draw, paint or otherwise displaying a noose or an image of a noose, typically used to send a threatening racial message.
"We won't tolerate this," said Sen. Dean G. Skelos, a Long Island Republican who sponsored the measure that passed Monday in the Senate. "There is no place for racism and intimidation in America and this rash of incidents clearly demonstrates the need for tough new penalties."
The bill is sponsored in the Democrat-led Assembly by Rules Committee Chairman Joseph Lentol of Brooklyn. The Assembly may convene Tuesday and could consider the bill. There was no immediate comment from the Assembly.
Monday's Senate vote came as New York City police said a black high school teacher in Brooklyn had been targeted with a letter containing racial slurs and a string tied into a noose.
The 44-year-old teacher at Canarsie High School told police she received the letter and the noose through the mail. Police say they have no suspects.
The discovery is among a number of recent incidents involving symbols of lynchings in the Old South.
Nooses were found earlier this month on a black professor's door at Columbia University, outside a post office near ground zero in lower Manhattan and in locations on Long Island. There have been no arrests.
There have been a number of other nooses found in high-profile incidents around the country - in a black Coast Guard cadet's bag, on a Maryland college campus, and in the Jenna Six case in Louisiana, where six black teenagers were charged with beating a white student. The incident happened after nooses were hung from a tree on a high school campus there.
Skelos said he is optimistic the Assembly will pass the bill. He said that, as in the case of Nazi symbols and burning crosses, an intent to threaten or harass would be part of an anti-noose law.
By Michael Gormley
© 2009 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report. "We won't tolerate this," said Sen. Dean G. Skelos, a Long Island Republican who sponsored the measure that passed Monday in the Senate. "There is no place for racism and intimidation in America and this rash of incidents clearly demonstrates the need for tough new penalties."
The bill is sponsored in the Democrat-led Assembly by Rules Committee Chairman Joseph Lentol of Brooklyn. The Assembly may convene Tuesday and could consider the bill. There was no immediate comment from the Assembly.
Monday's Senate vote came as New York City police said a black high school teacher in Brooklyn had been targeted with a letter containing racial slurs and a string tied into a noose.
The 44-year-old teacher at Canarsie High School told police she received the letter and the noose through the mail. Police say they have no suspects.
The discovery is among a number of recent incidents involving symbols of lynchings in the Old South.
Nooses were found earlier this month on a black professor's door at Columbia University, outside a post office near ground zero in lower Manhattan and in locations on Long Island. There have been no arrests.
There have been a number of other nooses found in high-profile incidents around the country - in a black Coast Guard cadet's bag, on a Maryland college campus, and in the Jenna Six case in Louisiana, where six black teenagers were charged with beating a white student. The incident happened after nooses were hung from a tree on a high school campus there.
Skelos said he is optimistic the Assembly will pass the bill. He said that, as in the case of Nazi symbols and burning crosses, an intent to threaten or harass would be part of an anti-noose law.
By Michael Gormley
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Posted by jn122736 at 12:39 PM : Oct 23, 2007
I''m not sure I agree -- it seems to me that name-calling is the only language conservatives understand, and if you don''t dumb it down for them, you sound like John Kerry, intelligent, but no one listens to him. I''m trying shame conservatives who on the one hand support Guilliani when he violates the First Amendment by cutting public funding to museums based on the content of their artwork, but scream and cry like babies when someone wants to prohibit their hate speech. I''ve found that with simple-minded conservatives, their opinions are based on what they feel, not what they think. I''m trying to help them feel differently.
And
Posted by sftodd at 11:43 AM : Oct 23, 2007
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you were to reformat the above two comments to omit the name-calling and personal insults you would be conveying a message of importance for consideration.
I, and I am sure, many others can and do agree with your basic thoughts, however, insults and name-calling destroys any real value in what you write, in addition to being extremely divisional.
If we cannot unite as Americans first, rather than be divided simply as republicans or democrats, we can never control our government as originally intended by the founders.
And that, my fellow Americans, is OUR responsibility and the %u201Cbuck%u201D truly does stop here.
Posted by papabc at 11:24 AM : Oct 23, 2007"
You got that right.