Lt. governor steps in with hate crimes bill that imperils passage

Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan unveiled his proposal to give Georgia a hate crimes law for the first time in 16 years, although some maintain it could kill the chances of any such bill passing during the few days left in this legislative session.

Duncan’s measure starts the same way as House Bill 426, legislation that the House passed in 2019, only to watch it idle in the Senate Judiciary Committee since then. The lieutenant governor’s proposal would impose new penalties for crimes motivated by age, gender, race, ethnicity and sexual orientation.

But then it goes further. It would:

■ Add “culture,” “exercise of religious beliefs” and “exercising rights guaranteed by the First Amendment” as protected classes.

■ Allow members of the community to file a warrant to force a grand jury hearing for a hate crime charge if a prosecutor doesn’t initially do so.

■ Mandate that law enforcement officials track hate crimes for the first time in a state database.

Convictions would carry a penalty of 1-5 years.

Those additions, however, put Duncan at odds with House Speaker David Ralston, who has called for passage of HB 426 as is.

The concern is that any changes to the House measure could doom it if it returns to that chamber, where it only passed by five votes the first time around.

Senate Minority Whip Harold Jones, an Augusta Democrat, saw some good and bad in Duncan’s measure. Jones likes the inclusion of mandatory tracking of hate crimes and giving victims a way to pursue legal action. But he also said that Senate Democrats believe HB 426 represents the best opportunity to pass hate crimes legislation this session.

“The bottom line is that we want to get a hate crime bill passed,” Jones said, “and, quite frankly, we’re running out of time.”

Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan