Arbery’s killing brought changes to key state laws

ATLANTA — The jury verdict that convicted three white men of killing Ahmaud Arbery as the Black man ran through a coastal Georgia neighborhood brought an unusual reaction among state political leaders: a consensus that justice was at least partially served.

Unlike the outcome in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, whose acquittal on five felony charges sparked a partisan clash, Georgia’s top politicians were unified in horror over Arbery’s death — and nearly unanimous in demands to make significant changes to state laws in response.

Almost as soon as footage of the fatal shooting was released last year, state politicians pressed for a renewed investigation and legislative action. Democrats who had long pushed for overhauls to outdated laws suddenly found a willing ear from state Republicans.

Legislators soon adopted hate-crimes legislation after nearly two decades of attempts to put a law back on the books. It increased the punishment for people who commit crimes against someone based on race, sexual orientation, religion or other characteristics. When Gov. Brian Kemp signed the legislation into law, Democratic state Rep. Calvin Smyre declared it a “defining moment” in Georgia history.

It wasn’t the only major change that came after Arbery’s death. Soon after the hate-crimes law was passed, legislators held hearings on the repeal of the state’s citizen’s arrest law, a statute dating to the Civil War that was initially cited by a prosecutor to justify the shooting of Arbery.

The rules allowed residents to take law enforcement into their own hands if they witnessed a crime and the police weren’t around. Criminal justice experts said citizen’s arrest laws are too easily abused and no longer necessary with widespread law enforcement protection and 911 service.

Still, when Kemp announced he would roll back the “antiquated” law, it seemed destined for a drawn-out fight. But the overwhelming support for the repeal in the Legislature was a reminder that political compromise, even in fraught times, can still be achieved.

Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, said after the passage of both bills that it gave her solace to know her son’s death would help Georgians going forward.

“Unfortunately, Ahmaud had to lose his life, but the change that has been implemented since we lost him shows my family that he didn’t lose his life in vain,” she said.

Sean Rayford / Getty Images Wanda Cooper-Jones, mother of Ahmaud Arbery, leaves the courthouse in Brunswick, Ga., on Tuesday. She praised state lawmakers for passing reforms after her son’s killing.