Bipolar disorder, which used to be called manic depressive illness or manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by wide mood swings from high (manic) to low (depressed). Periods of high or irritable mood are called manic episodes.
James Byrd, Jr. was not engaged in a federally-protected activity when he was lynched and killed. The Matthew Shepard Act expanded the 1969 Federal Hate Crime Law to cover these and other types of brutal murders.
State Statutes Governing Hate Crimes Congressional Research Service Summary Concerns about hate crimes have become increasingly prominent among policymakers at all levels of government in recent years. The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (P.L. 103-322, Title XXVIII Â§280003a) defines a âhate crimeâ as one in âwhich the defendant intentionally selects a victim, or in the case of property crime, the property that is the