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Key Facts
- Federal and state: The ABA House of Delegates adopted policy resolutions during the ABA Annual Meeting in San Francisco, as summarized in the ABA Washington Letter (August 2013).
- Federal and state: One policy topic described in that summary addressed the “gay panic” and “trans panic” defenses in criminal cases.
- Federal and state: The ABA summary described these defenses as seeking to partially or completely excuse crimes such as murder and assault by blaming the victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity for a defendant’s violent reaction.
- Federal and state: The ABA summary stated that the policy urged governments to take legislative action to curtail the availability and effectiveness of these defenses.
- Federal and state: The ABA summary stated that remedial legislation should specify that a non-violent sexual advance does not constitute legally adequate provocation for mitigation.
- Federal and state: The ABA summary also stated that the discovery of a person’s sex or gender identity should not constitute legally adequate provocation for mitigation.
- Federal and state: The ABA summary referenced mitigation concepts that can include reducing murder to manslaughter or reducing the severity of a non-capital crime.
- Federal and state: The ABA publishes collections of House of Delegates resolutions as association policy materials.
The 2013 ABA policy summary described a criminal law argument often called the gay panic defense
In an August 2013 issue summarizing policy action from the ABA Annual Meeting in San Francisco, the ABA Washington Letter included a section titled “Gay Panic Defenses.” The summary described the “gay panic” and “trans panic” defenses as arguments that seek to partially or completely excuse crimes such as murder and assault on the grounds that the victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity is to blame for the defendant’s violent reaction.
