HB 6872, An Act Revising And Consolidating The Hate Crimes Statutes

TESTIMONY OF THE CONNECTICUT HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION
SUBMITTED TO THE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE

Monday, March 10, 2025

The Connecticut Hospital Association (CHA) appreciates this opportunity to submit testimony concerning HB 6872, An Act Revising And Consolidating The Hate Crimes Statutes. CHA has concerns about Section 16 of the bill.

Connecticut hospitals and health systems care for patients, strengthen the state’s economy, and support vulnerable communities across the state. Every day, they work to improve healthcare access, affordability, and health equity.

Section 16 of the bill establishes a new hate crime if a person acts in violation of existing public accommodations laws, without specifying a level of intentionality or mens rea (“guilty mind”) normally included in hate crime laws. Mens rea is the state of mind statutorily required in order to convict a particular person of a particular crime. In order to prove guilt in a criminal trial, the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant committed the offense, the actus reus (physical element of the crime), with a culpable state of mind. As mentioned above, Section 16 does not specify a level of intentionality or mens rea.

We ask that either Section 16 be deleted from the bill, or that the requisite intentionality language that is present in other sections of the bill be incorporated into this section, in order to clarify that a hate crime occurs when there is an intent to harm a person or deprive a person of their rights based on a protected social category.

Thank you for your consideration of our position. For additional information, contact CHA Government Relations at (203) 294-7301.