Senator: “Members of our military must be protected to the full extent of the law.”
Washington D.C.— U.S.Senator Ron Wyden today pressed the U.S. Justice Department to answer questions about its prosecution of cases under a 2009 federal law that established new penalties for attacks on U.S. servicemembers and former servicemembers who are within five years of discharge.
Wyden’s letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi follows constituent concerns in Oregon that the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act does not track or appropriately enforce this law with basic measures such as the federal Justice Department failing to mention anything on its webpage about the law’s protections or enforcement as well as failing to document in its examples of hate crimes cases one example of hate crimes against servicemembers.
“The statute established new penalties for attacks on U.S. servicemembers and former members of the armed forces who are within five years of discharge, on account of service or status as a servicemember. The law also ensures protections for the immediate family of U.S. servicemembers,” wrote Wyden, who supported the law when it passed in 2009. “Members of our military must be protected to the full extent of the law.”
The senator’s letter asked the Justice Department to answer by March 14, 2025 questions that include whether it interprets “members of the U.S. Armed Forces” under the statute to include reserve components and any current or former National Guard personnel; and how many cases the department has prosecuted under this law.
Wyden’s letter today follows a previous inquiry to then-Attorney General Merrick Garland that was not answered.
“These important questions from servicemembers and former servicemembers demand answers no matter who’s heading the Justice Department,” Wyden said about his letter. “And I’ll keep pushing the Justice Department until it provides those answers.”
A copy of today’s letter is here.
A web version of this release is here.