The U.S. Justice Department brought more federal hate crimes cases this year than in any year since 2001, reports the Associated Press. An Obama administration official said he was "shocked" by the drop-off in prosecutions during the Bush years. Twenty-five hate crime cases were filed for the budget year that ended in September. In 2001, there were 31 such cases filed. The number fell to a low of 12 in 2006.
Tom Perez, head of the Justice Department's civil rights division, spoke two days after his unit announced federal indictments in its investigation of the fatal beating of a Mexican immigrant in Shenandoah, Pa. Authorities charged two teenagers with the attack, and four police officers were indicted. Three of the officers were accused of conspiring to obstruct the investigation of the case, and a fourth was charged with extortion in a separate case.
