The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Citizen’s arrest law will face scrutiny
Georgia House hearings to examine repealing controversial 1863 law.
Civil rights advocates hoped the passage of hate-crimes legislation last week would be a step toward a more equitable criminal justice system. Georgia House lawmakers are planning a series of hearings that could pave the way for those changes.
State Rep. Chuck Efstration, R-Dacula, said he’ll hold hearings starting in early July examining the potential repeal of Georgia’s citizen’s arrest law, a statute dating to the Civil War that was initially cited by a prosecutor to justify the killing of Ahmaud Arbery.
Efstration, who chairs the House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee and sponsored the hate-crimes law, said Monday that additional hearings to review other “needed reforms” are also planned.
“There is bipartisan acknowledgment of the problems with Georgia’s citizen’s arrest statute,” Efstration said. “We must act decisively. No parent should live in fear for the safety of her child every time he leaves home. We have been called to do much more, and the time to act is now.”
Georgia has had statutes on the books since 1863 that allow residents to take law enforcement into their own hands if they have witnessed a crime and the police aren’t around.
Critics say the laws are easily abused and no longer necessary with widespread law enforcement protection and 911 service. Their calls have grown louder amid nationwide protests demanding equality and justice spurred by the deaths of Arbery and other Black victims.
Georgia Democrats, the state NAACP and other groups pressed for the repeal of citizen’s arrest laws, as well as a rollback of stand-yourground rules, shortly after graphic video of Arbery’s death emerged.
The push almost gained traction. In the closing days of the pandemic-delayed legislative session, Republican leaders quietly worked with Democrats to hash out a compromise that would have scaled back or repealed the citizen’s arrest statute.
But any chance of an agree