Jasper Murder Spurs Push for Federal Hate Crime Legislation

Following James Byrd Jr.'s murder, Texas civil rights advocates and Byrd's family pushed for hate crime legislation at state and federal levels. Texas Governor George W. Bush declined to sign a state hate crimes bill in 1999 citing existing law. The federal Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act was not signed until 2009 by President Obama, over a decade after the murder.