DOVER — After some debate concerning the impact of legislation that would reinforce civil rights protections and punish those who violate them, the bill was voted out of the House Judiciary Committee Tuesday. It now awaits a vote in the full House of Representatives.

Introduced by Rep. Kendra Johnson, D-Bear, on June 9, House Bill 255 strives to “criminalize the deprivation of civil rights,” including hate crimes.

Depriving someone of basic rights would be a Class A misdemeanor, but if the act causes physical injury or involves the use of dangerous weapons or objects, it would be a Class D felony. In the event of serious physical injury, death, kidnapping, sex crimes or attempt to commit murder, kidnapping or a felony sex offense, it would be upgraded to a Class B felony.

As explained by Rep. Johnson during opening statements, the bill itself is based on protections enforced by the federal government, most notably a statute that “makes it a crime for a person acting under color of law to willfully deprive a person of a right or privilege protected by the Constitution or the laws of the United States.”

The proposal faced some skepticism from members of the committee, including questions regarding good faith efforts by local authorities, the severity of criminal and administrative deprivation against the rights of those accused and the possibility of an imbalance between the powers of the individual state and the federal government regarding civil rights but was defended by the director of the Division of Civil Rights and Public Trust within the Delaware Department of Justice.

That director, Mark Denney, said the bill recognizes the rights and liberties of all individuals and communities, especially those who have been — and continue to be — deprived of opportunities or necessary resources because of their race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, ability, religion or other aspect of their identities. This reinforcement, he told the committee, will initiate the change needed toward truly achieving equality and justice for all.

“The point here is that (this bill) will allow for singular enforcement, so we will not have to sit back and wait for a pattern of abuses,” he said. “If there were an egregious enough example, like a particular actor, group or entity denying people civil rights, then this will allow enforcement authority before it got even worse.”

State Solicitor Aaron Goldstein also presented a legal perspective on the matter, explaining the overlap of state and federal enforcement authority has been used in other jurisdictions to handle civil rights issues.

“Under our federalist system of government in the U.S., there are two dual sovereigns… a state and the federal government,” he said. “There are many places, particularly where the dual sovereigns have their own judiciaries, where the same conduct can be prosecuted either at the state level or federal level, and that’s common in the criminal law, (and) this is not any different in any way from that.”

As acknowledged by Rep. Johnson, by extending the number of civil rights protections granted to Delaware residents, as well as the punishments for violations, the bill would allow further defense for all individuals concerning financial, governmental and political affairs.

“The state should not have to solely rely upon the federal government to address civil rights deprivation in the state,” Rep. Johnson said. “

By including conduct committed under color of any ordinance, regulation or custom, this law accounts for conduct by actors in areas such as banking, lending, leasing, government contracts or political operatives that violates civil rights to proper conduct.”

If passed by the House, the measure will then move to the state Senate for further consideration.