Charlie Crist signs bill classifying homeless attacks as hate crimes
Attacks on homeless people will soon be classified as a hate crime in Florida, which has ranked first in the nation for such attacks the past 11 years. The bill passed by the Legislature this past session and signed by Gov. Charlie Crist on Tuesday amends the state’s hate crime statute to include offenses where there is evidence of prejudice based on the victim being homeless. The law, which goes into effect Oct. 1, increases the maximum sentence a judge…