While we respect – and share – Nat Hentoff's devotion to the First Amendment, we continue to disagree with his longheld belief that hate crimes laws are constitutionally problematic ('Thought Crimes' Bill Advances, May 13).

Hate crime laws do not punish "politically incorrect thoughts." Americans are free to think and believe whatever they want. It is only when an individual commits a crime based on those biased beliefs and intentionally targets another for violence that this statute would be triggered. The Supreme Court got it right 16 years ago when it considered a First Amendment challenge to Wisconsin's law and upheld it unanimously. Hentoff's disillusionment with the ACLU over this point is misplaced.

Hate crime laws – like anti-discrimination laws in the workplace – do apply to everyone. They are colorblind and demonstrate a commitment by our society to deter and address all prejudiced conduct. The victim in the 1993 Supreme Court case, for example, was white, and his attackers were black.

Finally, Hentoff claims that violators of the pending Local Law Enforcement Hate Crime Prevention Act "would get extra prison time." However, this legislation is not about the length of prison sentences. Rather, it would, for the first time, provide jurisdiction for the federal government to investigate and prosecute certain bias-motivated crimes – including some crimes based on the victim's actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, or disability. Current federal law does not provide authority for involvement in these four categories of cases at all.

Laws shape attitudes. The pending federal legislation has attracted the support of groups as diverse as International Association of Chiefs of Police, the NAACP, the National District Attorneys Association, Human Rights First, 26 state attorneys general as well as President Obama and Attorney General Holder.

We believe this law will improve the criminal justice system's response to these devastating crimes. Hate violence deserves the priority attention it receives.