Hate crimes bill introduced in Ga. House

[struggle4progress]

Legislation includes sexual orientation, gender identity
By MATT SCHAFER, Southern Voice | Jan 30, 3:01 PM

A gay and transgender-inclusive hate crime bill has been introduced in the Georgia House of Representatives, while a bill requiring HIV testing of prisoners was introduced in the state Senate.

Rep. Pedro “Pete” Marin (D-Duluth) had put forth the hate crimes bill, H.B. 111. It would offer sentence enhancement for hate crimes motivated by the victim's "race, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or national origin."

The legislation would officially amend Georgia's previous hate crimes law, which was struck down by the state Supreme Court in 2004 on the grounds that its definition of hate crimes as those motivated by "bias or prejudice" was unconstitutionally vague. Lawmakers had enacted the bill without naming specific categories out of concern that it would not pass if "sexual orientation" was included.

Under Marin's proposal, if a person is convicted of a misdemeanor or a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature, the hate crime bill would allow for the penalty to be increased by 50 percent, up to the maximum penalty allowed under the law for the underlying crime ...

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