For the first time in U.S. history, the Senate has moved to make lynching a federal crime.
On Wednesday, the Senate unanimously passed the “Justice for Victims of Lynching Act of 2018,” which, if enacted, would add a section on lynching to the part of the U.S. code of law that deals with crimes related to civil rights. The section on lynching would be added right after the section on hate crime acts.
The legislation was proposed in June by three African-American senators – Sens. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Tim Scott, R-S.C. It now goes to the House of Representatives.
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