The Senate has passed the Emmett Till Antilynching Act of 2022. It will now move forward to Joe Biden, who is expected to sign it. There was virtually no opposition from either chamber of Congress.
Since 1900, lawmakers have failed to pass antilynching laws more than 200 times. Last Monday, in a 422 – 3 vote, the Emmett Till Antilynching Act was officiated passed in the House. The Emmett Till Antilynching Act was named after 14-year-old Emmett Till was kidnapped, brutally beaten, tortured and shot in the head by white supremacists in 1955 after being accused of offending a white woman.
If the Emmett Till Antilynching Act is passed into legislation, a crime would be prosecuted as lynching if a person tries to commit a hate crime that results in death or serious bodily injury. If found guilty of the crime, a person could serve up to 30 years in prison.
“After more than 200 failed attempts to outlaw lynching, Congress is finally succeeding in taking the long-overdue action by passing the Emmett Till Antilynching Act. Hallelujah. It’s long overdue,” said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said after the bill’s passage, CNN reports. “The first antilynching legislation was introduced a century ago, and after so long, the Senate has now finally addressed one of the most shameful elements of this nation’s past by making lynching a federal crime,” he said.
The bill is now headed to Joe Biden.
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