Lawmakers are set to consider a proposal that would give homeless people protection under the state hate crimes act. Under the proposal anyone convicted of violent crimes against a homeless person—for example someone who lacks a regular place to sleep or is living in a homeless shelter—would be subject to a longer jail sentence.

It’s the second time Senator Bill O’Neill has introduced the measure, but he told KUNM Public Health Reporter Ed Williams he’s confident it will pass this session, given the recent brutal murders of two homeless Navajo men in Albuquerque.

 O’Neill: Being homeless is such a violent experience, and many people do not realize that they are taken advantage of and assaulted and targeted the way that vulnerable folks are in our society, which is the whole reason why there’s a New Mexico Hate Crimes Act.

Read more here: http://kunm.org/post/round-two-homeless-hate-crime-bill