"No Hate Crimes In Iowa!"
Iowa Hate Crime legislation first passed the legislature in 1987 as Chapter
729A in the Code of Iowa. This law has been amended several times since
then. A Hate Crime is one of the following public offenses (assault, criminal
mischief, trespass or arson) when committed against a person or person's
property because of the person's:
race
color
religion
ancestry
national origin
political affiliation
sex
sexual orientation
age
physical or mental disability
During 1990 and 1991, Commission management
personnel served on the Governor's Hate Crimes Task Force. The recommendations
of this group resulted in the Governor's Conference on Hate Crimes in February
1992 in Des Moines attended by law enforcement personnel from around the
state.
The Commission presented a new Hate Crimes brochure and poster, "No
Hate Crimes In Iowa," to the attendees. These were updated after the
conference and after the l992 Iowa legislative changes. Hate Crimes posters
and brochures will be distributed to Iowa school superintendents, law enforcement
off ices and human rights advocates around the state with the request these
be duplicated and distributed.
Iowa's Hate Crimes legislation is comprehensive. Iowa Hate Crime laws:
The Iowa Civil Rights Commission is involved if
a Hate Crime occurs in the areas of employment, housing, credit, public
accommodations or education and is also a discriminatory act under Iowa
Code Chapter 601A.