1. For Georgia, the population
covered was 8,600,353 and the total number of incidents reported was 17.
2. For the Hate Crimes Statutory
Provisions, Georgia covers institutional vandalism and civil action. However it
does not cover: bias-motivated violence and intimidation, civil action for
race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, disability and other. It
also does not cover for data collection and training for law enforcement personnel.
3. In the report, the Violent Crime Control and
Law Enforcement Act of 1994 defines hate crimes as a “crime in which the
defendant intentionally selects a victim, or in the case of property crime, the
property that is object of the crime” motivated by prejudice based on the “race,
color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender, disability, or sexual
orientation” of the victim. It is considered a crime/penalty enhancement if the
trier of fact determines beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant
intentionally selected any victim or any property of the victim as the object
of the offense because of bias or prejudice. It is also a crime if a person
commits the offense of terroristic act when: he/she uses a burning or flaming
cross or other burning or flaming symbol or flambeau with the intent to
terrorize another or another’s household. It is institutional vandalism when a
person commits the offense of vandalism to a place of worship when he
maliciously defaces or desecrates a church, synagogue or other place of public
religious worship. There is no statue found on data collection and no statue on
law enforcement training.
5. Back in August 2012, there was a
story that took place in Savannah, Georgia where a couple was jumped by a trio
of racist thugs while they were out for a stroll because the guy was white and
the girl was black. Police were investigating the case by scouring surveillance
tapes and spoke with witnesses. It is unclear if there are any convictions or
arrests at this point. Although Georgia does not have a hate crime law in
place, if police investigators can produce enough evidence against the
perpetrators of the crime, the case can be escalated to the FBI who would take
over.
Media
6. The following PSA has fellow
activist and politician Devin Barrington-Ward as he discuss his role in
creating safe communities in light of the recent hate crime against Brandon White
of Atlanta, GA. You can see the video
from this link: http://youtu.be/cxc8WgI-ZB0
In this next video, Georgia State
Rep. Rashad Taylor (D-Atlanta) spoke at the recent rally for anti-gay beating
victim Brandon White. Taylor, one of 4 openly LGBT state legislators, calls for
the state to pass a comprehensive hate crimes law. You can see the video at
this link: http://youtu.be/r86wbkdb5Uo
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