James B. Jacobs is director of the Center for Research in Crime and Justice at New York University, where he is also a law professor. He is co-author of Hate Crimes: Criminal Law & Identity Politics.

Pastor Harry R. Jackson Jr. is pastor of Hope Christian Church in Lanham, Md. He also heads the High Impact Leadership Coalition.

Bishop Kwabena Rainey Cheeks is pastor of Inner Light Ministries in Washington, D.C., and a supporter of the legislation.

Burns Strider is the founder of the Eleison and The American Values Network. He has served in an array of high ranking positions within the Democratic party including as senior adviser and director of faith-based operations for Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign, director of religious outreach for the House Democrats and lead staffer for the […]

The Massachusetts Family Institute is an organization that promotes marriage as between a man and a woman.

Frederick Lawrence is a theology professor at Boston College and the author of Punishing Hate: Bias Crimes Under American Law.

Rebecca Stotzer is an assistant professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. Her research includes studies on racial and sexual discrimination.

Brian Levin is director of the Center for the Study of Hate & Extremism, a nonpartisan research and policy center at California State University, San Bernardino. Levin is also a professor of criminal justice at the university.

Peter Levine is the Lincoln Filene Professor of Citizenship & Public Affairs in Tufts University’s Jonathan Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service and director of the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE)  which studies young Americans’ civic engagement. He is also the author of The Future of Democracy: Developing […]