Indiana University has endorsed Gov. Eric Holcomb’s push for the creation of a hate crimes law in Indiana.
“Indiana University applauds and fully supports Governor Holcomb’s approach in seeking to advance hate crimes legislation in the state of Indiana, and the university stands firmly behind his consistently expressed position that a new law is both the right course of action for our legislators and long overdue,” IU President Michael McRobbie said in a news release on Wednesday.
Holcomb renewed his support for a hate crimes law during his state of the state address Tuesday, telling the Republican-dominated Legislature that Indiana needs to end its status as one of just five states without laws specifically targeting crimes fueled by biases regarding race, religion and sexual orientation.
Repeated efforts for an Indiana law have failed amid opposition from conservatives who maintain it would unfairly create specially protected classes of victims and wrongly restrict free speech.
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