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SF967 (Legislative Session 94 (2025-2026))

Criminal penalties for crimes committed because of the victim's political affiliation or beliefs modification

Related bill: HF908

AI Generated Summary

This legislative bill proposes to increase the criminal penalties for crimes that are motivated by the victim's political affiliation or beliefs. Specifically, it amends existing Minnesota statutes to enhance the sentences for assault when the attack is substantially driven by bias against a person’s characteristics like race, religion, sexual orientation, or specifically here, political beliefs. Under this bill, committing such an assault can result in a prison sentence of up to 364 days and/or a fine up to $3,000. If someone commits this type of crime again within five years of a prior conviction, it escalates to a felony, potentially leading to a longer prison sentence of up to one year and one day, with the same fine limit.

Bill text versions

Actions

DateChamberWhereTypeNameCommittee Name
February 02, 2025SenateFloorActionIntroduction and first reading
February 02, 2025SenateFloorActionReferred toJudiciary and Public Safety

Citations

 
[
  {
    "analysis": {
      "added": [
        "Political affiliation or beliefs are added to the list of protected classes in bias-motivated assaults."
      ],
      "removed": [],
      "summary": "The bill amends the assault motivated by bias statute to add political affiliation or beliefs as a protected class, referencing existing definitions within section 363A.03.",
      "modified": [
        "Definition references in section 363A.03 are retained for newly added categories."
      ]
    },
    "citation": "363A.03"
  }
]

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