ABSTRACT
Nearly six years after two women were bound and gagged and had their throats slit while camping and hiking in the Shenandoah National Park, U.S.Attorney General John D.Ashcroft held an historic nationally televised press conference on April 11, 2001, to announce that the U.S. Justice Department had invoked the federal hate crimes statute for the first time to charge the alleged murderer with hate crime. In announcing the indictment, Ashcroft spoke at length about his meeting with the parents of the victims and about the lives and character of the young women: two Midwesterners who migrated to New England, met and became lovers, and shared a love of science and the outdoors. Justifying the invocation of federal hate crime law, which carries with it enhanced penalties, Ashcroft said: “criminal acts of hate run counter to what is best in America, our belief in equality and freedom. The Department of Justice will aggressively investigate, prosecute, and punish criminal acts of violence and vigilantism motivated by hate and intolerance.” Moreover, he said, “we will pursue, prosecute, and punish those who attack law-abiding Americans out of hatred for who they are,” and “hatred is the enemy of justice, regardless of its source.” 1
