Philadelphia Bar Association Chancellor Jen Coatsworth released the following statement condemning the recent vandalism of the Holocaust memorial in Center City Philadelphia and urging the Pennsylvania General Assembly to advance the hate crimes package passed by the House late last year:
“The Philadelphia Bar Association condemns the abhorrent conduct of individuals who vandalized the Horwitz-Wasserman Holocaust Memorial Plaza in Center City on two separate occasions this week,” Coatsworth said. “The painting of a swastika on the building adjacent to the memorial, as well as the dumping of refuse around the base of the sculpture, ‘Monument to Six Million Jewish Martyrs,’ must certainly be classified as hate crimes. These acts of senseless vandalism are repugnant and they defile the memories of the innocent people who perished as victims of the Holocaust. We cannot stand by and accept such intolerable conduct.
“These recent events represent only the newest instance of such disgraceful conduct, reflective of a staggering rise in anti-Semitic hate crimes in our area and nationally. We must take action to combat hatred and discrimination in all of its forms,” Coatsworth said. “As such, we urge the state Senate to advance the hate crimes package passed with bipartisan support by the state House of Representatives at the end of last year. This legislation contains three bills that would, among other measures, expand the intimidation offense in the current law to include disability, sex, sexual orientation and gender identity; require postsecondary schools to offer online and anonymous hate crime reporting for students and employees, and facilitate greater training for law enforcement and school officials on how to investigate and report hate crimes, along with more effective reporting and statistical monitoring of these crimes. Another bill, which has yet to receive a final vote in the House and be advanced to the Senate, would require a person who has been convicted of ethnic intimidation to perform community service or complete an educational program related to the motivating factor for their crime.
“Our Association has long supported such changes to the state’s hate crimes law and have always condemned hate in all forms. Recent events demonstrate the urgency in implementing more effective policy, and we stand ready to assist in any way possible to enact these measures as law in Pennsylvania.”
