BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana is poised to become the first state in the nation to expand its hate-crime laws to protect police, firefighters and emergency medical crews — a move that could stir the national debate over the relationship between law enforcement and minorities.
If signed by the governor, the new law would allow prosecutors to seek additional penalties against anyone convicted of intentionally targeting first responders because of their profession.
Existing hate-crime laws provide for more fines and prison time if a person is targeted because of race, gender, religion, nationality, sexual orientation or affiliation with certain organizations.
The state House unanimously supported extending the law, and the bill gained overwhelming support in the state Senate. The measure underwent little questioning and met no objection from committees in either chamber.
Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat whose grandfather, father and brother have served as sheriffs, is expected to sign the bill into law this week, said his spokeswoman, Shauna Sanford.
Lawmakers in five other states have recently tried to pass similar so-called Blue Lives Matter bills, but each effort stalled, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Critics regard the laws as unnecessary and say they could weaken current hate-crimes statutes.
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