In order to combat threats of violence and acts of vandalism against places of worship and gathering for cultural and religious communities, the Michigan Legislature this week passed bills making “maliciously and intentionally” damaging or defacing such properties based on their association or perceived association with a certain identity a crime of “institutional desecration.”
The bills, HB 4476 and HB 4477, passed through both houses of the Legislature with bipartisan support on Thursday and would create penalties for causing damage to places like mosques, schools, cemeteries and businesses. They now head to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer for final approval.
It’s a personal issue for one of the sponsors, state Rep. Ranjeev Puri (D-Canton), as he told members of the Senate Civil Rights, Judiciary and Public Safety Committee that it caused him to run for office.
When a shooter came to the Sikh Temple in Oak Creek, Wisc., in 2012, shooting and killing seven people, it was the deadliest attack on Sikh Americans in U.S. history. It was also the Gurdwara that Puri’s parents helped build in the 1990s when they lived there — the first in the state.
“Oftentimes, I’m asked why these crimes deserve what some might call special treatment, because it’s already a crime to hurt someone or destroy property, but hate crimes are very different, hate crimes are committed to purposely send a message and after a heinous act of violence or destruction of one’s place of worship, it’s not just the one person or the one place of worship that will bear the brunt of that trauma, it’s an entire community that is left to pick up pieces,” Puri said.
Currently, vandalizing or destroying property of places like a library or temple are charged under things like “malicious destruction of property.” The other bill sponsor, Rep. Noah Arbit (D-West Bloomfield), told the Senate committee members that doesn’t fully embody the breadth of what a person has done or provide direct avenues in the legal system to offer education of cultures and communities to offenders.
“Unfortunately, we have seen as hate-based violence continues to rise, houses of worship, minority-owned businesses, cultural and ethnic community centers, and the like, have been the focus of increasing threats and vandalism, defacement, destruction, including right here in Michigan,” Arbit said.
He outlined several incidents of targeted attacks on religious institutions in Michigan, including the glass on front door of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community’s mosque in Rochester Hills getting shattered in 2021 as children played inside and this year when the Woodward Avenue Shul in Royal Oak that was spray-painted with a swastika and the letters AZOV, meaning “leave” in Hebrew.
This week, Whitmer signed a joint letter with other governors to congressional leadership requesting increased funding to secure and help places of worship remain secure amid violence in Israel and Gaza.
The letter outlines examples of recent threats across the country and notes Dearborn Police arrested a man in October they said made credible threats on social media proposing acts of violence against Palestinian-American residents in the city.
“On October 31, FBI Director Christopher Wray testified before the U.S. Senate that antisemitism in the U.S. is reaching “historic levels,” and urged vigilance,” the letter reads. “But that vigilance comes at a cost, and we must ensure our constituencies who are threatened by violence have the robust supports they need to stay safe. We must secure the safety of our homeland, especially at its heart – where people gather to find comfort and identity in their faiths, cultures, and beliefs.”
The bills outline the buildings, properties and structures that are subjected to rules of institutional desecration:
- A building, structure, or “place used for religious worship or other religious purpose,” such as a synagogue, church or mosque
- Cemeteries or other facilities used for memorial or the burial of the dead
- Educational facilities such as schools, museums or community centers
- Businesses, offices, headquarters or storefronts
The bills also include:
- The properties adjacent to such facilities
- The personal, communal or institutional property of such facilities
- The “digital or online assets maintained, owned, authored or rented by such facilities”
Charges in the legislation vary based on the value of the destruction or injury and previous convictions of institutional desecration.
A misdemeanor charge carrying up to 93 days in jail and up to a $500 fine or a fine of three times the value of the destruction or injury in any of the following apply if the amount of destruction or injury during the desecration equates to less than $200 and the person has no convictions for committing or attempting to commit institution desecration.
A misdemeanor charge carrying up one year in jail and up to a $2,000 fine or a fine of three times the value of the destruction or injury in any of the following apply:
- If the amount of destruction or injury during the desecration equates to less than $200 and the person charged has one or more convictions for committing or attempting to commit institution desecration
- If the amount of destruction or injury during the desecration equates to $200 or more but less than $1,000 and the person has no previous convictions for committing or attempting to commit institution desecration
A felony charge carrying up five years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine or a fine of thee times the value of the destruction or injury in any of the following apply:
- If the amount of destruction or injury during the desecration equates to $200 or more but less than $1,000 and the person charged has one or more prior convictions for committing or attempting to commit institution desecration resulting in destruction or injury valued at $200 or more
- If the amount of destruction or injury during the desecration equates to $1,000 or more, but less than $20,000 and the person has no previous convictions of committing or attempting to commit institution desecration
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A felony charge carrying up to 10 years in prison and up to a $15,000 fine or a fine of three times the value of the destruction or injury if any of the following apply:
- If the amount of destruction or injury during the desecration equates to $1,000 or more but less than $20,000 and the person charged has two or more prior convictions for committing or attempting to commit institution desecration resulting in destruction or injury valued at $200 or more
- If the amount of destruction or injury during the desecration equates to $20,000 or more, regardless of previous convictions
In terms of the misdemeanor offenses, the legislation allows courts to use substitutes for the allotted penalties, use alternative sentencing like community service, with the goal of improving the perpetrator’s understanding of the victim and community they harmed. In the five-year felony, a court can reduce the allotted penalties and subsidize it with community service hours to accomplish the same ends.
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