By Amanda Cooper
The legislative session begins this Monday, and Georgia House Democratic leaders feel that now is the best time to progress.
During a virtual press conference on Thursday, The Georgia House Democratic Caucus introduced a package of substantive criminal justice reform bills called “Justice For All.” The legislative package consists of twelve measures that Georgia House Democrats will push during the remainder of the legislative session. One of those pieces of legislation that will bring justice to crimes committed against people of color is House Bill 426, Hate Crimes Bill.
Georgia is one of four states that does not have a hate crime bill, and after the national attention on the Ahmaud Arbery shooting in Brunswick Ga, a bi-partisan push to pass the bill is growing. The bill is sponsored by state Rep. Chuck Efstration, a Republican from Dacula, in March 2019, HB 426 initially failed but later moved on a 96 to 64. In the state Senate, Speaker David Ralston has stated that he is “more committed to a hates crimes law than ever” following George Floyd’s death. However, the legislation is currently stalled in committee. Many are waiting to see if support from a coalition of business leaders in Atlanta will help push the bill through the Georgia Senate.
With only 11 days in the next session, Georgia House and Senate Democratic leaders, including the Democratic Party of Georgia, see it as an opportunity to answer the call and do what is necessary to work towards justice for all. Georgia Democratic Party Chairwoman, Nikema Williams, says the bills “will help us start to fix the deep inequality in our system and end statues like the citizen’s arrest law that put black communities in danger.”