Indiana Senate panel approves hate crimes bill

LaGrange Republican Sen. Sue Glick offered Senate Bill 220, which would allow judges to consider the motivation behind a crime as a reason for giving a harsher sentence.

"We think it's important and significant enough to enhance the penalty," she said. "This sends a message to those individuals that we will not tolerate it in our society."

Glick added later that the bill "isn't about a person's words. It's about actions. It's about their evil intent."

The aggravator could be applied if the person committed the offense with the intent to harm or intimidate an individual because of the person's race, religion, color, sex, gender, disability, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, transgender status or status as a veteran or member of the armed forces.

Forty-five states have hate-crime laws on the books but Indiana is not one of them.