Politics & Government
Rep. Tom MacArthur Supports Bill Crafted By Hightstown High School Students
The students helped draft a bill making it easier to get information on hate crimes through the Freedom of Information Act.
HIGHTSTOWN, NJ — A bill ghostwritten by several Hightstown High School students that tackles unsolved hate crimes continues to garner support. On Wednesday, Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-3) announced he would co-sponsor the Cold Case Record Collections Act with Democratic Congressman Bobby Rush, of Illinois. The bill was introduced on March 1.
It would allow citizens to request the declassification of certain documents from civil rights cold cases. Currently, the declassification prevents private investigators from investigating these cases.
“I spoke with Oslene Johnson and commended her and her classmates for lobbying Congress on this important issue,” MacArthur said. “There are many unsolved crimes from the Civil Rights Movement where outside investigators are needed to help bring justice for those involved, that’s why I’m proud to cosponsor the Cold Case Record Collections Act. I’m grateful that high school students from my home state identified this problem, worked together, and fought for change.”
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The Cold Case Record Collections Act is also co-sponsored by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA), Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), and Rep. Jose Serrano (D-NY).
A private citizen can request information via the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), but those requests often take more than a year to fill, and often return heavily redacted, or censored.
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In 2013, the Justice Department reported that about 83 percent of information provided to private citizens was wrongfully redacted, according to The Trentonian.
Students in Stuart “Stu” Wexler’s AP government and politics class at Hightstown High School decided to craft the proposed legislation, but Wexler is surprised by how far the legislation has advanced, according to the report.
The bill was introduced on March 1, and assigned to a congressional committee. According to Predict Gov, it has about a 2 percent chance of being enacted.
To read the full text of the bill, visit govtrack.us.
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