Hate Crimes Bill Passes GA Legislature

GEORGIA — A bill that would crack down on crimes committed from bias or intimidation, including simple assault passed through the Georgia Legislature on Tuesday.

House Bill 426 includes enhanced penalties for felonies committed because of bias and a new addition of five dangerous and intimidating misdemeanors such as simple assault, the Georgia Recorder reported. The bill also states that it will be focused on if race, color, religion, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender, mental disability, or physical disability were intentionally used against the victim.

The bill was approved 47-6 by the Senate, and 127-38 by the House on Tuesday.

The amended bill also adds a requirement that law enforcement collect hate crime data closed to the public, which is different from Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan's plan the Georgia Recorder said.

New language from Duncan's bill in the hate crimes legislation on its way to the Senate floor says the information collected "shall be considered for statistical purposes only and, where no arrests are made, shall not be subject to the" Georgia Open Records Act, the Georgia Recorder said.

Gov. Brian Kemp will see the bill next, and after the vote, his office said, “Governor Kemp commends the General Assembly’s bipartisan work and will sign House Bill 426 pending legal review," the AJC reported.

At least four states, including Georgia, are without a hate-crimes law, the AJC reported. The last time this topic was introduced was in 2000, when a hate-crimes law was struck down by the Georgia Supreme Court in 2004 for being “unconstitutionally vague," the AJC said.

If someone is proven to have committed a hate crime, they would face an additional six to 12 months for a misdemeanor or at least two years for a felony, and also face a fine of up to $5,000, the paper reported.