Dana Benbow, IndyStar sports reporter, breaks down reaction to Indiana's proposed hate crime legislation by local sports teams. Robert Scheer, robert.scheer@indystar.com
The major sports players in Indianapolis showed up to the statehouse with carefully prepared words and a highly vested interest in Indiana's proposed hate crimes bill.
Colts, Pacers and Indianapolis Motor Speedway executives were there to testify in favor of Senate Bill 12, which specified protected characteristics, including gender identity, race and sexual orientation.
Then the Senate amended the bill to strip out the list of specific characteristics, instead adding a weaker provision that would allow judges toconsider bias more generally as an aggravating circumstance when weighing a stricter sentence for a crime.