Illegal Spitting? Atlanta Reviews Low-Level Offenses

Those offenses include treasure hunts – illegal if they’re for commercial gain. Another law prohibits moving your furniture in the middle of the night unless you have a permit.

Then, there’s the crime of spitting. It’s against the law on sidewalks and in churches.  

In total, the city council considered roughly 80 minor crimes in a work session this week. They’re often called “quality of life” laws, and they’re on the books in cities around the country.

Brooklyn Law School professor Jocelyn Simonson said the laws are generally passed to tackle specific issues.

“Often the legislators’ impulse is to create new criminal offenses when there is a problem they want to be seen as trying to address,” Simonson said. “So it happens in small amounts over time.”

But as the quality of life laws add up, Simonson said, there is a side effect.

The offenses give police more pretexts for stops or arrests. And she said those tend to happen in poorer neighborhoods more than others.

For now, the Atlanta City Council is set to consider an ordinance from Council member Kwanza Hall to eliminate about 17 of these laws that are either unconstitutional or preempted by state law.

Also, on the list are a few ordinances, like the treasure hunts and furniture moving laws, which never came up in court.

As for the rest of the low-level offenses, they may be the subject of work sessions in the coming months.