What are the chances for Georgia hate crimes law after Ahmaud Arbery slaying?
Wednesday, May 13, 2020
Georgia and South Carolina are two of four states that do not have a hate crime law.
Lawmakers on both sides have tried to similar bills before, but all have failed.
While Ahmaud Arbery's murder case continues to make national headlines, the Georgia Legislature is back at work with another bill.
The bill is in the state Senate, where it's been sitting for some time.The House ed the bill last year, and it's been waiting on Senate action since last year.
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The bill says crimes linked to discrimination of race, gender, orientation or disabilities should result in heavier sentences -- similar to what the federal hate crime law says.
Right now, the U.S. Department of Justice is reviewing whether this case falls under that federal hate crime law.
Two men have been charged with murder in the Feb. 23 shooting death of Arbery, a black man in his mid-20s, whom they had pursued in a truck after spotting him running in their neighborhood outside Brunswick. They told authorities they thought he was a burglar.
Arbery’s family says the proposed legislation is a big step toward justice, but it's just the first step in a longer journey.
"Every morning when I woke, I made a phone call to the district attorney's office, to the lieutenant there in Glynn County. I made phone calls each and every day, and finally I got someone that would actually help us," said Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones.
Advocates are calling for the bill to be named after Arbery and approved this summer.
The
whether Arbery’s case was mishandled by the first two DAs it fell two. The GBI got involved after a request from the state attorney general's office.
Both district attorneys recused themselves because they've both worked with Gregory and Travis McMichael, the father and son accused in Arbery’s slaying.
