Anti-Gang Bill, HB 994

HB 994 will lead to increased criminalization of communities of color

Bill Status: Passed by House; Waiting to be referred to a Senate Committee

INTRODUCTION

We oppose HB 994. HB 994 is a dangerous anti-gang legislation bill that falls in with Governor Brian Kemp’s prioritization of ending gang violence, however it is likely to target and damage the youth by criminalizing them as adults in superior courts. It has long term negative impacts that would affect the state by expanding the current laws already in place on criminal gang activity. It creates strident penalties on the youth ages between 13 and 17, while also expanding the death penalty in the state of Georgia.

LEGAL DEFINITION OF “STREET GANG”

This bill reinforces the definition of a “street gang” as any organization, association, or group of three or more people in the same place, which will unfairly target young communities of color and enable harsher sentencing for those communities. According to the new “street gang” definition, individuals could be targeted by law enforcement simply because of the way they look, their demeanor and apparel, being in a group of 3 or more and seen to be doing “suspicious” activity that law enforcement finds skeptical. Immigrant communities and children from immigrant families are already disproportionately racially profiled because of their appearance and this bill will intensify racial profiling in communities with high percentages of immigrants. Local law enforcement agencies and regional officers would be granted more power to criminalize the youth and incarcerate them without valid and legal reasoning.

RACIAL PROFILING

Gang laws have a disproportionately negative effect on communities of color, leading to an over-representation of people of color in the criminal legal system. According to Project South, between 2010 and 2017, every individual arrested under Mississippi’s gang statute was an African American, yet 53% of verified gang members were white. Black, Brown, and immigrant youth are more likely to be targeted under this bill, while their white counterparts are under-represented in enforcement measures. This brings a lot of attention to the immigrant community, as local law enforcement presumes immigrants as criminals regularly due to the color of their skin, or their religious preferences, and regardless of the situation, the immigrant youth is being negatively impacted.

INCREASED CRIMINALIZATION & HARSHER SENTENCING

The detrimental horrifying truths about HB 994 is that it will create two new gang offenses; it restricts gang offenses from being merged, which will predominately result in more incarceration time, adds five new offenses for the list of crimes that require registration on the states sex offender registry, and will create foul civil penalties for people who may be “considered” to commit a criminal gang activity. Incarcerating children has been proven to make children less safe and overall leaving the communities children live in less safe. Instead of throwing every child in jail for making a minor mistake, the state needs to recognize that what’s best for children at that age is to enroll them in rehabilitation centers where they can separate themselves from the environmental factors that made them commit the crime in the first place. Georgia is currently number 1 in the nation for the number of persons incarcerated under supervision, yet the state fails to deal with these numbers at hand and instead is pushing for a bill that will only lead to more incarcerations of individuals especially those of color and those of immigrant descent.