Georgia Senate seeks to make gang prosecutions easier

Georgia senators want to make it easier to prosecute gang crimes in any county, part of a trend of Republicans pushing tough-on-crime measures.

That’s just one provision contained in Senate Bill 12, an anti-crime bill that passed the Senate on a 44-8 vote Thursday. It also would increase penalties for a felon convicted of certain domestic violence crimes later found with a gun, dictate that people arrested on gang charges can receive bail only from a Superior Court judge, and require people convicted of abusing senior citizens and disabled adults to receive longer prison sentences.

The measure moves to the House for more debate.

“We have unfortunately seen a dramatic increase in crime and we have a gang crisis, make no mistake about that,” said Senate Public Safety Committee Chairman John Albers, a Roswell Republican who unsuccessfully pushed a similar bill last year.

The state had already made it easier to prosecute gang crimes across county lines when it created a gang prosecution unit in the attorney general’s office last year.

The new language says that a gang crime can be prosecuted in any county where any member has committed any gang activity, where any gang member owns any property, or where a gang member made a threat against someone for leaving a gang, refusing to join a gang or providing testimony against a gang.

“Rather that prosecute that in multiple areas, it allows them to consolidate it into one single area,” Albers said.

It also says only a Superior Court judge can set bail on gang charges. Right now, Superior Court judges are only required to make bail decisions on crimes punishable by life or death, such as rape and murder.

The bill also would create a new crime called a domestic violence felony, which would include any felony committed by a family member or person cohabitating with a victim where physical force or a deadly weapon was used or threatened.

A domestic violence felony would be labeled a forcible felony, meaning someone convicted a first time could face a minimum five-year prison sentence if they later are found with a gun. That mandatory minimum already exists for other second felonies committed with a gun after a prior conviction.

The measure would require that a repeat offender convicted of a second felony against a disabled adult or senior would have to get the longest possible sentence for the second offense, although a judge could still suspend a sentence or give probation for parts of the sentence beyond the minimum required.

The measure would also allow prosecutors to introduce evidence of prior bad acts in cases of nonsexual child abuse, elder abuse, abuse of a disabled adult, domestic abuse or a hate crime.

Senators earlier backed Gov. Brian Kemp’s push for long prison sentences for gang members and even longer sentences for anyone convicted of recruiting minors into a gang. Senate Bill 44, which passed earlier, would add a mandatory five years to prison sentences for anyone convicted of a gang crime and 10 years for anyone convicted of recruiting minors into a gang.