Hate Crimes

Yesterday Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) chaired a hearing  entitled "Crimes Against America's Homeless: Is the Violence Growing?". It is believed to be the first held by the United States Congress that specifically and exclusively addresses a homeless civil rights issue.
Right now that data is collected by the National Coalition for the Homeless. A report issued by the organization in August showed that violence against the homeless in 2009 was the highest it's been in 10 years. Last year 43 homeless people were killed. In 2008, that number was 27. Cardin said he was "shocked and horrified" by reports of the killings.

In the last 10 years, 288 homeless people have been fatally attacked. Who can argue that all of them were targeted for any reason other than the fact that there were outdoors and vulnerable? In the same time period, the FBI recorded 103 official fatal hate crimes. So adding homelessness to the official designation would triple the number of hate crimes resulting in death in the United States.