Hate Crimes Against Homeless Rise in 2007

A rise in attacks against homeless people in 2007 has more states considering harsher penalties in hate crime laws for attacking a homeless person.

Legislation is pending in Ohio and Massachusetts and Alaska. In Alaska, the bill passed the Senate and House and awaits Gov. Sarah Palin's signature.

Attacks against homeless people increased from 142 attacks in 2006 to 160 attacks in 2007, says a report released Tuesday by the National Coalition for the Homeless and the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty.

Twenty-eight of those attacks were murders, up from 20 murders in 2006. The report was based on media reports and other data collected by advocates for the homeless, the coalition said.

"This is about punishing people who take advantage of the most vulnerable in our society," says Ohio State Rep. Mike Foley, who introduced the state's bill. "There is too much of it going on."