Urges Federal Bureau of Investigation to include in Uniform Crime Report September 11, 2001 terror attack victims in hate crime statistics.
Summary
Assembly Resolution 131 is a nonbinding New Jersey resolution that urges the Federal Bureau of Investigation to revise its Uniform Crime Report hate-crime statistics to include victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks as victims of hate-motivated murder. The resolution argues that the attacks were an act of international terrorism driven by hatred and that excluding the nearly 3,000 victims from hate-crime data understates the scope of hate-motivated violence.
The resolution recites background on the federal Hate Crime Statistics Act, the FBI’s collection of bias-crime data, and the FBI’s treatment of the September 11 attacks in a special report rather than in the murder or hate-murder counts. It directs the Clerk of the General Assembly to transmit copies to the FBI Director, but it does not change New Jersey criminal law or create any state-level penalties or reporting requirements.
Impact
AR131 has no direct effect on New Jersey statutes, criminal definitions, or state reporting systems because it is a legislative resolution rather than a bill amending law. Its practical impact is advisory: it expresses the General Assembly’s position and asks the FBI to alter how federal Uniform Crime Report data classify September 11 victims, potentially affecting national hate-crime statistics and how those statistics are interpreted by policymakers, researchers, and advocates.
Sentiment
The bill’s tone is strongly supportive and commemorative, reflecting condemnation of the September 11 attacks and sympathy for the victims, including first responders. Because there are no recorded committee transcripts or votes, the available context shows no formal opposition or amendment activity. The resolution appears to have been introduced as a statement of principle rather than a contested policy measure.
Contention
The main point of contention is conceptual rather than procedural: whether the September 11 victims should be counted as victims of hate-motivated murder within FBI hate-crime statistics. Supporters argue that excluding them distorts the meaning of hate-motivated murder and minimizes the scale of the attacks, while the resolution’s language implies that the FBI’s existing special-report treatment is insufficient. No opposing arguments are recorded in the provided materials, but the issue could raise questions about how hate-crime categories are defined and whether terrorism should be counted separately from hate crimes.