On September 7, 2001 a library customer asked me for information about hate crimes and what programs and projects various agencies and groups are undertaking related to the issue of hate crimes. He said that his attorney told him the county law library would be a good source to find this information. At the time, I thought that I could use some of the resources I found for him as a basis of the December Law Library News column as in December and January many attorneys as looking a last minute MCLE credit on elimination of bias in the legal profession. Bias is not always a hate crime, but it can be. When looking for the heading "hate crime" in the legal periodical indices, one is led to the topic "bias crimes." Less than one week later the topic of hate crimes took on a whole new meaning. Those who are most likely to be the targets of hate crimes within this country have changed with the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

A person who interferes with another's civil rights or is convicted of a felony or who is convicted of attempting to commit a felony may receive an additional term to the sentence if the crime is committed because of the victim's race, color, religion, nationality, country of origin, ancestry, disability, gender or sexual orientation or because the perpetrator perceived the victim has one of the protected characteristics. As a condition of probation for hate crime offenders, the judge may order classes on racial or ethnic sensitivity or other similar training in the area of civil rights, or counseling to control violent and anti-social behavior, or restitution made to victim or reimbursement to the victim for the victim's counseling cost, or compensation made to community-based program that provide services to victims of hate crime.

The Congress and the legislature have passed legislation that require hate crime reporting so that programs can be developed to combat hate crimes. The library has some of the products of those programs. For example, the U.S. Department of Justice produced a three day National Bias Crimes Training Program for Law Enforcement and Victim Assistance Professionals (HV8079.H38 1995). The library has both the trainer's manual and participant's handbook. They also produced A Policymaker's Guide to Hate Crimes (HV8069.P65 1997) and Addressing Hate Crimes: Six nitiatives that are Enhancing the Efforts of Criminal Justice Practitioners (J 26.30:H28/2 2000:Feb.

Unlawful Discrimination: Your Rights and Remedies (KFC695.A88 2001) is an excellent handbook developed by the California attorney general's office that can serve as a good summary of the laws in the area of unlawful discrimination and including hate crimes, a referral guide and directory of agencies with responsibilities related to discrimination.

One way to fight hate crimes is to teach tolerance and celebrate diversity. We are fortunate in Sacramento to have the Capital Unity Council. One of their program priorities is a Unity Center that will include educational resources. Another group, the Southern Poverty Law Center produces free booklets such as 101 Tools for Tolerance and Ten Ways to Fight Hate that can be ordered from their website. Several websites that focus on issues of intolerance and diversity are listed in Surfing from River City.

Looking for a few more MCLE credits? The library enhanced its audiotape collection with Rutter Group program tapes. A selected list is highlighted in our library ad. Lunch hour classes are scheduled at the library throughout January on stress management (January 8), legal ethics (January 11), elimination of bias (January 16), and substance abuse (January 22). Check the library website or call 874-6011 for more information.

For those who cannot tolerate the parking situation around the Sacramento County Public Law Library, I wish to announce a small victory. The city of Sacramento parking division granted our request to change the ten-hour meters to two-hour meters on the north side of our building, and they marked a handicapped parking space directly in front of the building.