Our 2024 Georgia Legislative Priorities
The second year of the 2023-2024 biennial legislative session in the Georgia General Assembly has officially kicked off! The Southern Center for Human Rights is committed to decriminalizing race and poverty in America’s Deep South and our policy priorities this session reflect that commitment. Read on to learn about our policy priorities, advocacy tools and community advocacy days.
Policy Priorities
Southern Center works to advance proactive and defensive strategies that protect marginalized communities. Every year, we identify discrete issues that will demand most of our attention.
Our 2024 policy priorities at the legislature will be:
Death Penalty Intellectual Disability Law Update
Georgia is a dangerous outlier when it comes to protecting people with intellectual disability from execution. Since 2002, Southern Center has worked to reform Georgia’s statute and last year we worked in coalition on HB 1040, which would have brought Georgia in alignment with other states. We created this advocacy toolkit for organizations to use when educating their supporters about these important issues and will work with coalition partners to support lawmakers looking to (1) change the standard of proof from “beyond a reasonable doubt” to “preponderance of the evidence” and (2) remove the ID determination from the guilt phase of trial.
Conditions of Confinement
The Southern Center is committed to supporting legislators in understanding the root causes of the dysfunction in Georgia’s jails and prisons. From one-on-one conversations to formal testimony in committee meetings, we will continue to provide lawmakers with recommendations for how the General Assembly can adequately address and reduce harm in local jails and prisons. The Department of Justice Civil Rights Division’s 2024 reports detailing human rights violations in Georgia Department of Corrections Facilities and the Fulton County Jail provide legislators with a useful roadmap for the minimum remedial measures necessary to address ongoing abuses. We urge decision makers to take on measures exceeding minimum recommendations and stand ready to share best practices and connect lawmakers to impacted experts. Learn more about how we are facilitating input on the Fulton County Jail consent decree through our People’s Process campaign. We will continue to integrate public input into our local and statewide strategies.
Protecting the First Amendment
The constitutional right to free speech is critical to every democracy. We will continue to serve ordinary people who find themselves in the crosshairs of the criminal legal system due to engaging in protected political expression. We also provide technical policy assistance to lawmakers who wish to avoid unintentionally drafting laws that abridge the First Amendment.
Treating Kids Like Kids
Our litigation units work closely with our policy team and other organizations laboring to ensure that Georgia treats children with a level of care reflecting their cognitive and emotional capacity. In addition to prioritizing ending juvenile life without parole, we follow the lead of partners like Barton Child Law & Advocacy Center at Emory University and Deep Center in Savannah, who are experts in child law policy. We also defer to grassroots and direct service organizations that center the experiences of children when considering proposals and campaigns.
Wealth-Based Detention
We know that cash bail and excessive monetary obligations disproportionately impact Black, brown and poor people in the criminal legal system. These practices only contribute to jail overcrowding. We will work with lawmakers to ensure that Georgia does not yet again expand cash bail.
Improving Data Collection Throughout the Criminal Legal System
Georgia’s 159 counties have few uniform practices governing the collection of data, which poses a challenge for stakeholders interested in changing outcomes within the criminal legal system. Whether analyzing arrest practices, diversion statistics or sentencing outcomes, everyone benefits from clear and transparent data practices.
Last Year in Review
To learn more about where we left off in 2023, please take a look at our Sine Die Legislative Update.
Find Your Legislators
Your legislators want to hear from you on important issues! Find your legislators by entering your address here. The members of the committees in the Georgia House and Senate who usually vet bills related to the criminal legal system may be found here for the Senate and here for the House.
Advocacy Days
Join the Justice Reform Partnership’s 2024 Talk Justice Tuesdays advocacy series. Topics this session will be:
- January 16: Advocacy Training
- January 23: Youth Justice
- February 6: Conditions of Confinement
- February 20: Overcoming Barriers to Reentry
- March 12: Legislative Action: Last Call
Justice Day 2024: Justice is a Family Affair!
Justice Day at the Capitol sponsored by the Justice Reform Partnership will take place Thursday, February 29, 2024 from 9 am – 3 pm ET at Central Presbyterian Church. Join Georgia’s leading advocates for the only annual comprehensive criminal legal reform advocacy day as we take action through the lens of protecting families from the ills of mass incarceration. All are welcome. Register here!
Local Policy Work
Our policy advocacy is hyperlocal, local and statewide. On January 8, 2024, we presented recommendations from our Community Safety & Police Violence project during the first meeting of the Atlanta City Council. Access those resources here.
We also invited Atlanta’s leaders to Part 2 of our Pain & Power Stakeholder Symposium taking place on Thursday, February 22, 2024, 6 pm ET at Auburn Avenue Research Library. Mapping Police Violence found that 100% of unarmed people killed by Atlanta police are Black. Please join us to share your thoughts with elected officials about this disturbing fact and more. Register here to join the conversation.