Hate Crime, Statistics and Apathy

In May of 1996, two young lovers planned for one final 'get away' before work and study resumed in June.

Lollie Winans, 26, originally from Michigan, was finishing college in Unity, Maine. Julie Williams, 24, of St. Cloud, Minnesota, was an accomplished geologist living in Burlington, Vermont. Both were skilled trail guides who enjoyed hiking, camping and canoeing together.

On May 18th, the two women headed south to Virginia to the Shenandoah National Park for what was supposed to be an eight day backwoods camping excursion. Arriving at the park entrance on the 19th, they got camping permits. On May 23rd, they hiked along the famous Appalachian Trail stopping for photos at Crescent Rock Overlook. Later that day, they caught a ride to a nearby trail head parking lot with a park ranger. More photos were taken on May 24th.

Then, sometime between the 24th and 27th, someone happened to Lollie and Julie; they didn't return when expected; parents contacted authorities. On June 1st, in a creek-side camp site along the old Bridal Trail on Stony Man Mountain the two young women were found bound and gagged with their throats slit.

Six years later, in April of 2001, Attorney General John Ashcroft announces the indictment of Darrell David Rice for the brutal killings of Julie and Lollie. And for the first time the United Stated Department of Justice invokes the federal hate crimes statute which allows for enhanced penalties to be charged to the alleged murderer:

"Today's indictment charges that Rice singled out Julianne Marie Williams and Laura Winans for murder because of their gender or sexual orientation... The Department of Justice will aggressively investigate, prosecute and punish criminal acts of violence and vigilantism motivated by hate and intolerance... By invoking the hate crimes enhancement parts of sentencing enhancement today, today's murder indictment makes clear our commitment to seek every prosecutorial advantage and to use every available statute to secure justice for victims like Julianne Marie Williams and Lollie Winans."

Unlike the Matthew Shephard case in Wyoming, the Department of Justice - led first by U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno in 1996 and now by John Ashcroft - was able to step in and help Virginia prosecutors because Lollie and Julie's murder took place in a federal park. The sentencing enhancements Ashcroft mentioned in the 2001 press conference were possible due to the federal statute passed in 1994 called the Hate Crimes Sentencing Enhancement Act. It provided for stiffer penalties in bias-motivated attacks involving federal crimes.

As for Darrell David Rice, charges against him were withdrawn in 2004 by federal prosecutors due to the discovery of new forensic DNA evidence casting doubt on his guilt. Nevertheless, Mr. Rice remains a suspect in the case. In 1997 he was charged and later convicted with attempted abduction of a female bicyclist in Shenandoah National Park and it was during that investigation that he was linked to Lollie and Julie's murder. Prosecutors have quoted Rice as saying he selected women to intimidate and assault because "they are more vulnerable than men" and that Lollie and Julie "deserved to die because they were lesbian whores."

Since the passage of the federal Hate Crime Statistics Act of 1990, our picture of the prevalence of hate crime has slowly begun to form though it remains a piecemeal snapshot. For instance, in Kentucky, while hundreds of local agencies participated in crime reporting, only approximately 15% reported hate crimes as having occurred in their jurisdiction. While underreporting of hate crime, especially that motivated by sexual orientation, is a major problem, the data gathered remains worthy of study.

As it stands, Federal hate crime legislation sends a powerful signal to the states that the assumptions on which hate crime statutes are based are fundamentally accepted as correct. However, because federal hate crime legislation narrowly restricts when federal authorities can step in, it is in practice weak.

The Hate Crimes Prevention Act, introduced in the U.S. House of Representative in January of 2003 and updated in 2005, seeks to remedy this situation. If it were to pass, federal authorities would have greater freedom to assist when hate crimes occur at the state level. The bill would also expand the federal criminal code to include criminal penalties for certain hate crimes. Given the current make-up of the U.S. Congress, passage is unlikely.

2004 Hate Crime Statistics is due for publication later this year.