Anti-Lynching Bill Brought Before Senate Again

In light of recent events, an anti-lynching bill was brought before the Senate again yesterday. The act was previously passed in the House of Representatives 410-4 in February and the Senate had passed nearly identical legislation last year. However, the House renamed the bill which forced it back into the Senate. The Emmett Till Anti-Lynching Act was named in honor of Till who was a 14-year-old black boy who was lynched in Mississippi in 1955. This new bill would make lynching a federal hate crime that could be punishable by up to life in prison. Republican Senator Rand Paul said the measure was too broad and wanted to add a reformed amendment essentially narrowing the definition of lynching before passing it. Senators such as Kamala Harris and Cory Booker both gave extremely impassioned speeches following Paul’s comments. They argued he was attempting to weaken the bill for no reason and demanded better from him.