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HR4187FEDERALSession 119Federal Billin committee

Stop Hate Crimes Act of 2025

Last action · June 26, 2025: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.Sponsors: Ted Lieu and 7 others

Bill progressHistory & official text ↓

Introduced

Committee

Floor Vote

Passed

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What This Bill Would Do

This bill proposes changing the legal standard for federal hate crimes by clarifying how the motivation behind an injury is proven in court. It replaces the phrase 'because of' with a requirement that the victim's identity be a '' for the crime.

Why it matters

This bill changes the legal threshold for federal hate crime prosecutions, potentially making it easier for prosecutors to secure convictions by requiring that bias be a 'contributory' factor rather than the sole or primary cause of an injury.

Who It Would Affect

Groups the bill's text would affect if enacted, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.

Directly affected

Federal Prosecutors

They will be required to apply the new 'contributory motivating factor' standard when pursuing hate crime charges.

Directly affected

Criminal Defendants

The legal standard used to determine if their actions constitute a federal hate crime is being modified.

Key Facts

The bill amends Section 249(a) of title 18, United States Code, which governs federal hate crimes.
The bill replaces the phrase 'because of' with the requirement that a victim's protected characteristic be a 'contributory motivating factor' for an injury or attempted injury.
This change applies to both paragraph (1) regarding race, color, religion, or national origin, and paragraph (2)(A) regarding gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.
The bill was introduced in the House of Representatives on June 26, 2025.

Show all 5 facts

The bill is currently under review by the House Committee on the Judiciary.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does this bill change about hate crime laws?

It changes the legal standard for proving a hate crime by clarifying that a victim's identity must be a '' for the crime, rather than using the previous 'because of' language.

Does this bill add new protected groups?

No, the bill amends the existing statute to clarify the for currently protected groups, including those defined by race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

What else do you want to know?

News Coverage

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Where This Stands

Currently in committee. The next step in the legislative lifecycle is Floor Vote.

Procedural history

2 actions

Jun 26, 2025HouseCommittee
Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.
Jun 26, 2025HouseIntroduced
Introduced in House

Version history

Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.

View official text →

Full breakdown

Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.

Related Legislation

State Bill

New Mexico bill allows judges to reduce basic sentences based on clear and convincing evidence of mitigating circumstances

New Mexico House Bill 75 allows judges to alter a basic sentence upon finding mitigating circumstances by clear and convincing evidence or aggravating

Discoveries

1 pattern noticed across the record

Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.

policy shift90% confidence

Lowering the Burden of Proof

The shift from 'because of' to 'contributory motivating factor' suggests a legislative intent to lower the threshold for proving bias-motivated crimes.

18 U.S.C. 249(a)

Connected Entities

House Committee on the Judiciary, Nydia Velazquez, Raja Krishnamoorthi and 5 more

OrganizationHouse Committee on the Judiciary“The committee to which the bill was referred for review.”Map →

PersonNydia Velazquez“Co-sponsor of the bill.”Map →

PersonRaja Krishnamoorthi“Co-sponsor of the bill.”Map →

PersonJimmy Panetta“Co-sponsor of the bill.”Map →

PersonHank Johnson“Co-sponsor of the bill.”Map →

PersonLucy McBath“Co-sponsor of the bill.”Map →

PersonEleanor Holmes Norton“Co-sponsor of the bill.”Map →

PersonTed Lieu“Representative who introduced the bill.”Map →

Sources

Open source document

www.congress.gov

Analysis Score

0–100

Significance65
How much this matters to a regular citizen
Controversy50
Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
Entertainment10
Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
Buzz30
Current news / social attention level

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