In Kentucky, cousins Anthony Ray Jenkins and David Jason Jenkins were found not guilty of a hate crime in the first case prosecuted that involved the sexual-orientation provision of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, according to Advocate.com.
However, the defendants were found guilty of kidnapping openly gay resident Kevin Pennington. Federal prosecutors said that the Jenkinses planned to kidnap, beat and kill Pennington because of his sexual orientation.
President Obama signed the act in 2009. The legislation expanded federal hate-crimes law to cover attacks spurred by sexual orientation, gender identity, gender or disability.