Pappas Introduces Legislation to Ban Use of LGBTQ+ Panic Defense in Federal Courts
Legislation introduced as New Hampshire legislature moves legislation forward on the state level to ban the use of so-called ‘panic’ defenses
Today Congressman Chris Pappas (NH-01), Co-Chair of the Equality Caucus, and Senator Edward J. Markey announced the reintroduction of the LGBTQ+ Panic Defense Prohibition Act
, legislation that would ban using panic defenses based on sexual orientation or gender identity or expression in federal courts. These defenses are used to excuse violent crimes, such as murder and assault, by arguing that the victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity or expression is to blame for the defendant’s actions, placing the blame on the victims for the violence committed against them.
16 states and Washington D.C. have already taken legislative action to curtail the availability and effectiveness of using LGBTQ+ panic defenses, and similar legislation has been introduced in New Hampshire.
“In many jurisdictions throughout the United States, including our federal courts, violent perpetrators can attempt to avoid accountability for their crimes through the use of bigoted ‘panic’ defenses,” said Congressman Pappas. “As a bipartisan coalition of legislators come together in New Hampshire to ban their use in state courts, I am working to make progress on the federal level. Congress should work to end these bigoted defenses, and I am committed to working across the aisle with my colleagues to advance this legislation.”
The LGBTQ+ Panic Defense Prohibition Act is endorsed by the American Bar Association, the LGBTQ Bar Association, and the National Center for Transgender Equality.
Pappas serves as Co-Chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus and is New Hampshire’s first openly gay member of Congress. In his role as Co-Chair of the Equality Caucus, he has helped to introduce and pass the Equality Act through the House of Representatives and enact the Respect for Marriage Act into law. Pappas also leads the SERVE Act, which would guarantee and protect VA benefits for LGBTQ+ veterans; legislation to improve VA resources for LGBTQ+ veterans; and has led successful callsfor the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to reassess policy that blocked members of the LGBTQ+ community from donating blood. In the 116th Congress, Pappas led the Put Patients First Act, which would have blocked a Trump-Pence Administration rule that permitted discrimination in health care.
