Thousands gathered outside the State Capitol to protest police brutality and racial injustice as lawmakers met for the 2020 legislative session on June 19, 2020. (Photo by Beau Evans)
Wide-ranging legislation aimed at cracking down on rioting protesters in Georgia that criminal-justice advocates say could trample on free-speech rights faced debate in the General Assembly Tuesday.
The bill, sponsored by state Sen. Randy Robertson, R-Cataula, contains several proposals to punish vandalism and violence during protests such as those seen last summer in response to high-profile fatal shootings by police.
It seeks to “look at and redefine what peaceful assemblies were,” Robertson said, by making it a felony with fines and prison time to commit violent acts in gatherings of seven people or more, block a highway or road and deface public structures like monuments and cemeteries.
It would also hold city and county governments liable in civil court for interfering in a police agency’s protest enforcement, require permits for protests and rallies, block local officials from reducing police budgets by 30% or more in a year and provide protections for volunteer groups like “neighborhood watches” to assist police in protest enforcement.
“This is actually a good piece of legislation,” said Robertson, a retired major with the Muscogee County Sheriff’s Office. “All we have to do is look at today and look at the past and the future we’re moving into, and I think everybody understands the necessity of this.”
Representatives from several different groups focused on civil liberties, free speech, criminal defense and county finances strongly opposed Robertson’s bill during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday.
The Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers argued the bill could give legal cover to vigilante and militia groups like the Proud Boys to intervene in protests with weapons, threats and violence, such as has been seen in recent protests including the fatal “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017.
“This portion of the bill seems to goad that appalling behavior with the promise of immunity,” said Mazie Lynn Causey, policy advocate for the defense lawyers’ association. “It is unnecessary.”
Representatives from the American Civil Liberties Union, the Association County Commissioners of Georgia and the Southern Poverty Law Center all noted passing the bill could spur a flood of costly lawsuits challenging the measure on constitutional grounds – likewise for local governments suddenly on the hook for violent acts committed at gatherings as small as two people.
“This seems to make county governments and other local governments a guarantor for the public for the safety and property damage protection, which is a dramatic change from the way the law currently stands,” said Larry Ramsey, deputy counsel with the county commissioners’ association. “And obviously, to open up those floodgates, there are costs associated with that.”
Robertson dismissed concerns by those groups, calling their agendas antithetical to the duties of law enforcement officers to ensure public safety and peace.
“With the ACLU coming in with their new mission of cherry-picking when free speech is free speech and when free speech is not, I would not have expected any less of them,” Robertson said. “And to have the criminal defense attorneys come in and do theirs, it was no surprise either.”
Robertson’s bill comes after protests against police brutality and racial injustice rocked many U.S. cities in the summer of 2020, sparked by the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis by a police officer who kneeled on his neck for more than eight minutes during an arrest.
Scores of largely peaceful protests in Atlanta were also peppered with high-profile acts of vandalism that saw some demonstrators set fires, destroy cars and spur police to deploy tear gas and other counter-protest measures. One Atlanta police officer was injured by a four-wheeler during a protest.
Recent protests also brought backlash from conservative leaders who focused on the violent elements in some protests, citing property destruction and police defiance as motivation to staunchly back law enforcement officials – particularly by resisting calls by some criminal justice advocates to reduce funding for local police agencies.
The Georgia House of Representatives last week passed a measure by state Rep. Houston Gaines, R-Athens, that would limit most local governments from reducing funds for police by more than 5% over a 10-year span. It now awaits consideration in the Georgia Senate.
Legislation allowing visits from caregivers and legal representatives including family members of Georgians in hospitals or nursing homes during emergencies like COVID-19 advanced in the state House of Representatives on Monday.
The bill is a scaled-back version of a measure brought by Rep. Ed Setzler, R-Acworth, that initially required hospitals and nursing homes to give broad in-person access for patients and residents to visit with family members.
After some pushback last month, Setzler tailored his bill to allow only legal representatives that can include next of kin who are designated to make decisions by long-term hospital patients to visit up to an hour a day during statewide emergencies.
It would also let caregivers – which could include a family member – to visit with loved ones in nursing homes for two hours a day during pandemic-scale emergencies. Caregivers and legal representatives would have to follow all safety protocols set by the hospital or nursing home.
Setzler’s bill originally proposed allowing visits from family members without the requirement for them to be designated caregivers or legal representatives, a broader rule for in-person visits than his overhauled measure now seeks.
“The core of this bill is about patient representation,” Setzler said at a House Human Relations and Aging Committee hearing on Monday.
The committee approved the measure and sent it to the full House.
Setzler’s bill has faced some opposition from hospital and nursing home industry representatives who worry an influx of visitors could weaken safety protocols and might run afoul of federal rules on allowing visitors during emergencies.
Currently, Georgia allows visitation at nursing homes and long-term care facilities based on levels of COVID-19 positivity rates in a given community.
Despite its good intentions to connect patients with loved ones during tough times, the bill could create legal turmoil over visitors defying safety protocols and potentially hand too much power to designated representatives, said Anna Adams, senior vice president of government relations for the Georgia Hospital Association.
“This bill allows the patient representative to choose the essential visitor without the patient’s consent,” Adams said. “That is incredibly concerning.”
Democrats on the committee also opposed the bill, calling it too vague to ensure confidence visitors could enter hospitals and nursing homes during emergency situations without causing major problems.
“The vagueness of ‘reasonable standard,’ that doesn’t work for me,” said Rep. Donna McCleod, D-Lawrenceville. “If it’s not clear, we are going to cause chaos.”
Republicans, who hold a majority on the committee, pressed for passage of Setzler’s bill to make sure ailing loved ones could spend perhaps their final days in contact with their families.
“I just want to know how long we can wait for loved ones to see their family members,” said Rep. Charlice Byrd, R-Woodstock. “They have deteriorated, they have passed and I think we need to make the decision to get on with this. … This is seriously ridiculous for us not to pass this bill.”
Setzler said he agreed to the changes despite his wish and those of many supporters to broaden access to loved ones in hospitals or nursing-home care, with the aim of avoiding the grief of family members only being able to communicate by phone or live video.
“Is one hour a day for visiting adequate?” Setzler said last month during a hearing on the bill. “I struggle with that. It’s my personal opinion that it’s inadequate. But zero [hours] is unacceptable.”
Setzler has also said the bill would likely apply to future pandemics and emergencies rather than COVID-19, given it would not take effect until July, and the bulk of Georgians are predicted to have received vaccines by then.
Nearly 820,000 people had tested positive for COVID-19 in Georgia as of Thursday afternoon, with roughly 189,000 more reported positive antigen tests indicating likely positive results. The virus has killed 15,148 Georgians.
This story has been updated to clarify who can be designated as a legal representative.
State Rep. Barry Fleming, R-Harlem, pitches his bill proposing broad changes to Georgia’s voting system, particularly for absentee voting, on March 1, 2021. (Photo by Beau Evans)
ATLANTA – Republican state lawmakers took a major step Monday toward overhauling voting by mail and other election procedures in Georgia with passage of an omnibus bill by the state House of Representatives along party lines.
Sponsored by Rep. Barry Fleming, R-Harlem, the 66-page bill contains more than two dozen provisions including proposals to impose stricter identification requirements on absentee voters, a change the state Senate approved last week.
Fleming’s bill would scrap Georgia’s current signature-verification process for absentee ballots and force voters seeking mail-in ballots to provide the number on their driver’s license or state identification card, or photocopies of other valid ID forms.
Democratic lawmakers and voting-rights groups have condemned the tightened absentee voter ID rule, likening it to an attempt at voter suppression seeking to blunt Democrats’ momentum after the party flipped the presidency and both of Georgia’s U.S. Senate seats in the 2020 elections.
Republicans have argued the change is needed to shore up confidence in the state’s election system, which drew claims of fraud from former President Donald Trump after his loss to now-President Joe Biden by 11,779 votes in Georgia. Election officials and federal courts rejected all claims of widespread fraud.
Beyond absentee voting, Fleming’s bill would tweak rules for early voting on Sunday, instead requiring counties to pick either one Saturday or one Sunday ahead of Election Day for their precincts to be open.
It would also require absentee-ballot drop boxes to be located inside polling places or local elections officials during early voting, and scrap Georgia’s free-for-all “jungle primary” format for special elections that places all candidates on the same ballot.
Fleming chairs the House Special Committee on Election Integrity, where his bill passed last week. He said the measure aims to both boost voter confidence in Georgia’s elections and ease burdens on local elections officials who were taxed with tallying millions of mail-in ballots during the recent elections.
“The way we begin to restore confidence in our voting system is by passing this bill,” Fleming said from the House floor. “There are many common-sense measures here to begin that process.”
State Rep. Calvin Smyre, D-Columbus, speaks from the House floor to oppose Republican-led voting changes on March 1, 2021. (Photo by Beau Evans)
Democrats scoffed at that notion Monday, calling it a smokescreen for Republican moves in Georgia to upend the elections playing field after last year’s historic statewide wins by Democrats.
“This is a step in the wrong direction,” said Rep. Calvin Smyre, D-Columbus, the General Assembly’s longest-serving member. “I strongly believe it’s time that we encourage every citizen to participate in the purest sense of citizenship, and that’s voting.”
Democrats also warned passing Fleming’s bill could prompt costly lawsuits and cost counties millions of dollars to put in place changes like new security paper for ballots. They also argued the bill would limit opportunities for counties to secure grant funding for elections.
“Republicans in the Georgia General Assembly are trying to change the rules of the election here in Georgia – rules that you wrote – because you were handed defeat [in recent elections],” said Rep. Kimberly Alexander, D-Hiram.
“And you know your only chance at winning future elections is to prevent eligible Georgians from casting their ballots and having their voices heard.”
Republicans doubled down in touting Fleming’s bill Monday, framing it as a way to clean up confusion among voters and election workers and bolster faith in the integrity of voting by mail by tossing Georgia’s controversial signature-match process.
“Everybody’s got a right to vote and that subjective signature match is a tough one,” said state Rep. Alan Powell, R-Hartwell. “This is an objective way of verifying who someone is.”
Republicans also highlighted less-testy aspects of the bill such as revising precinct boundaries to curb long lines, blocking outside groups from sending absentee-ballot applications to cut down confusing mailers sent to voters and boosting training for poll watchers.
“Our goals in regulating elections should be to assure voting is fair, accessible, understandable, convenient and trustworthy,” said House Speaker Pro Tempore Jan Jones, R-Milton.
The bill passed by a 97-72 vote along party lines and now heads to the state Senate, where it will join a host of other elections-focused measures now winding through the General Assembly.
While Fleming’s bill is the most wide-ranging measure on election changes, it is similar to a separate omnibus bill sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Mike Dugan, R-Carrollton.
Senators advanced other contentious measures last week that have split Republicans, including a bill sponsored by Senate Rules Committee Chairman Jeff Mullis, R-Chickamauga, that would end Georgians’ ability to vote by mail for any reason and limit absentee voting to elderly, disabled and overseas voters.
That measure, which Democrats have blasted as an attack on voter access, has drawn opposition from key state Republican leaders including Gov. Brian Kemp, Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
However, those top Republican leaders have also supported proposals such as Fleming’s bill to tighten absentee voter ID laws, all but guaranteeing passage later this month in the Republican-controlled state legislature.
Other Republican-brought bills on election changes currently in play include measures to end automatic voter registration when Georgians obtain or renew their driver’s licenses, empower state elections officials to assume temporary control over local poor-performing elections boards and let county officials start processing absentee ballots a week before Election Day.
Protesters oppose state Rep. Barry Fleming’s, R-Harlem, bill to clamp down on absentee voting and other elections changes outside the state Capitol on March 1, 2021. (Photo by Beau Evans)
A bill to create new fundraising committees for political campaigns in Georgia that critics say could increase the influence of “dark money” passed in the state Senate on Friday.
Sponsored by state Sen. Jeff Mullis, R-Chickamauga, the bill would create so-called “leadership committees” run by the governor, lieutenant governor and their opponents – plus top leaders in the General Assembly – to collect campaign donations ahead of statewide and legislative elections.
Those leadership committees would have to disclose the names of donors but would not be subject to candidate contribution limits ranging from $14,000 to $22,200 for statewide seats and $5,600 to $8,600 per donor, depending on whether a candidate is forced into primary or general-election runoffs.
Mullis, who chairs the powerful Senate Rules Committee, framed the leadership committees proposed in his bill as avenues for promoting transparency in political spending that both Republicans and Democrats could use.
“This helps each side equally,” Mullis said from the Senate floor Friday. “The main emphasis on this bill is transparency – to make sure every expenditure is disclosed [and] every dollar that comes into this campaign … is disclosed.”
Critics argue allowing leadership committees in Georgia could serve as a workaround for candidates to receive campaign funds from dark-money groups not bound by contribution limits and from special interests that could steer money to state lawmakers during the legislative session.
Currently, Georgia law forbids members of the General Assembly from campaigning or accepting donations during the session due to the influence special-interest groups could wield to push through their favored policies.
Nothing in the bill that passed the Senate Friday would prevent dark-money groups from maintaining a foothold in Georgia politics, said state Sen. Jen Jordan, D-Atlanta. She called Mullis’ characterization that leadership committees boost transparency as “laughable”.
“If you think this is good for the people we represent, then you might want to do a double-take,” Jordan said. “This is what makes people not trust the system and not trust us.”
The bill cleared the Senate by a nearly party-line vote, with Sen. Burt Jones, R-Jackson, the lone Republican to vote against. It now heads to the Georgia House of Representatives.
Several GOP leaders in the Senate are among the bill’s cosponsors, including President Pro Tempore Butch Miller, R-Gainesville; Majority Leader Mike Dugan, R-Carrollton, and Majority Whip Steve Gooch, R-Dahlonega. Other cosponsors include Sens. John Kennedy, R-Macon; Larry Walker III, R-Perry; Dean Burke, R-Bainbridge; and Bill Cowsert, R-Athens.
A bill to criminalize hazing on Georgia college and university campuses that comes after the death of a fraternity pledge in Louisiana passed in the state Senate on Friday.
Sponsored by state Sen. John Albers, R-Roswell, the bill would make it a felony with prison time and a $50,000 fine for anyone who injures or contributes to killing a member of a fraternity, sorority or other college club through hazing, including by alcohol abuse or physical torture.
Those who do not intervene to stop life-threatening hazing activities would face misdemeanor charges, while those who report hazing allegations to authorities would enjoy legal protections in the event of criminal prosecution or civil claims.
The bill would also give the state Attorney General authority to bring civil suits against fraternities and other college groups that participate in dangerous hazing, as well as organizations that turn a blind eye to that behavior. It would also require schools to produce annual reports on proven hazing incidents.
Albers brought the same bill last year, which passed the Senate but stalled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He said fraternities and other clubs overall are solid organizations that perform good work in their school communities – but which have also been breeding grounds at times for abuse.
“This bill will ultimately save lives and protect our youth,” Albers said from the Senate floor Friday.
Albers’ bill stems from the 2017 death of Louisiana State University student Max Gruver, who died from alcohol poisoning after being hazed by members of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity.
Gruver, a 2017 graduate from Blessed Trinity Catholic High School in Roswell, was forced to drink liquor for failing to correctly answer fraternity-related trivia questions. His death led to the arrests of several fraternity members and a felony negligent homicide conviction of the ringleader.
The bill, titled the “Max Gruver Act,” now heads to the state House of Representatives.
Its co-sponsors include state Sens. Brian Strickland, R-McDonough; John Kennedy, R-Macon; Chuck Hufstetler, R-Rome; Kay Kirkpatrick, R-Marietta; Billy Hickman, R-Statesboro; and Senate President Pro Tempore Butch Miller, R-Gainesville.
