On Facebook today, a friend of mine made the claim that she was going to honor President Obama’s 100th day in office by praying “for our country before that becomes a hate crime too.”

There’s a lot I disagree with in that statement, but one aspect is close to my heart and I can’t let it pass without clearing up a common misconception.

Hate crimes laws don’t make any new activities illegal.

Instead, for example, the current legislation before Congress provides for federal prosecution and enhanced sentencing for crimes that are considered especially heinous.

This is something we already do in a wide variety of ways. For example, crimes committed against children are generally considered “worse” and therefore these criminals face stiffer punishments.

In fact, we already have a federal hate crimes law, passed in 1969.

This law permits federal prosecution of hate crimes committed on the basis of someone’s race, religion, or national origin, but only when the victim was engaged in a federally protected activity like voting, going to school, or enjoying the National Parks.

The new hate crimes law - known officially as the Local Law Enforcement Enhancement Act - only expands the scope of existing law.

First, it expands the list of “protected classes” to include gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability.

Second, it removes the requirement that the victim must be engaged in a specific, federally protected activity.

The idea behind the law is that crimes committed against someone because they are part of a specific group is a “bigger” crime with more “victims” than a random act of violence. Not only do you have a physical victim, but it also creates a sense of fear within that entire community.

Ergo, the reasoning is that since this crime affects more people than just the individual victim, sentencing should be enhanced.

We can disagree about whether that’s a good reason to add years to a prison sentence, but it’s disingenuous to say that the bill makes new actions illegal. It just provides for enhanced prosecution and sentencing for existing crimes.

I pray for a country that doesn’t try to address violence and bigotry.