(Columbia, SC) - Democratic lawmakers want to pass a hate crimes law in South Carolina.
The Clementa C. Pinckney Hate Crimes Act is named after a late state senator and pastor who was killed in the attack at a Charleston church in 2015.
The bill passed the House of Representatives with bipartisan report last year, but has since stalled in the Senate.
If passed, it would allow a hate crimes charge with more severe penalties to be added to violent crimes - these could include five more years in prison or up to 10-thousand dollars in fines.