Delaware bill would ban ‘gay panic’ defense
Delaware may soon become the 16th state to ban the LGBTQ panic defense, in which defendants claim they panicked after learning someone was gay or transgender and injured or killed the victim.
It’s been used five times in Delaware and more than 400 times across the country, said St. Edward’s University professor W. Carsten Andresen, who tracks uses of the defense.
The defense is usually used so that defendants can have their charges lessened – often from murder to manslaughter. If Delaware House Substitutive Bill 1 passes, defendants can’t use that defense to be acquitted of their crime or get reduced charges. “This defense is used by defendants to justify violent acts against LGBTQ individuals by claiming that their sexual orientation or gender identity poses a sudden threat to their safety,” Sussex Pride Director David Mariner said before the House Judiciary Committee. “This defense is nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to excuse bigotry and hate crimes, and it has no place in our justice system.” Scholars and advocates say it’s unknown how many times it’s been used because there is no single national place where the crimes are reported.
Andresen said he probably only knows a quarter of the cases in which it has been invoked. It’s hard to find out when it is used, Delaware lawyer Mark Purpura said, because it’s unlikely researchers will find cases where it has been used successfully because the decision won’t be appealed.
