COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — It took South Carolina lawmakers only two months to act when a female college student was kidnapped and killed by a man posing as an Uber driver. The Legislature acted swiftly to prevent such crimes in the future.

By comparison, state Rep. Wendell Gilliard says, more than six years have passed since the racist murders of nine African Americans at the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, and the Legislature has yet to take action to add punishment to victims of crimes motivated by bias against a particular group. That makes South Carolina one of only two states — the other be...