Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson on April 14 signed into law what’s been deemed as an alternative hate crimes bill.
Arkansas SB 622, introduced as a class protection bill, requires criminal defendants to serve at least 80 percent of their sentences if it’s found that they had “purposely selected the victim because the victim was a member of or was associated with a recognizable and identifiable group or class who share mental, physical, biological, cultural, political, or religious beliefs or characteristics.”
