Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp
Brian KempREAD: Trump Statement Coming In to McConnell Governor Proceeds to Review Arrest Law of Civil War Citizens After Ahmaud Arbery Perdue Case Submits Paperwork to Investigate 2022 Senate MORE (R) has announced legislation to repeal the Civil War arrest statute, almost a year after the law came under massive scrutiny following the murder of Ahmaud Arbery.
Kemp’s office said the bill, which will be enforced by state representative Bert Reeves (R), would revise the state’s current arrest law to help “eliminate all possible legal loopholes that could be used to justify vigilance. “.
Currently, a “private individual can arrest a perpetrator if the crime is committed in his presence or with his immediate knowledge,” the law states.
“If the crime is a crime and the offender escapes or tries to escape, a private individual can arrest him on reasonable and probable grounds of suspicion,” it continues.
Under Kemp’s proposal, similar rights would only apply to security officers, private investigators, business owners and their employees, as well as weight inspectors in specific cases.
Under part of the bill, business owners and their employees could detain violators that the owner or employee suspects are committing theft on company property.
That same section also includes provisions that allow restaurant owners and their employees to detain offenders they suspect are trying to “ dine and sparkle, ” another allowing weight inspectors to detain individuals when needed ” in the performance of their duties and one that allows authorized private security guards and private investigators to detain someone “in the course of their duties in the course of their business”.
Kemp’s office said the bill would give law enforcement officers the right to make arrests outside of their respective jurisdictions in the event an offense is committed in the presence or immediate knowledge of the officer, the officer “chases” an offender, or when the officer assists law enforcement officers. in another jurisdiction.
The bill also includes a provision that excludes “the use of force likely to cause death or major bodily harm to detain someone under this Code of Conduct unless the detention is intended to protect oneself, others, someone’s home or To prevent violent crime, ”the office stated.
The announcement comes about a year after prosecutors originally cited the state’s current arrest law as a reason not to charge two white men, father and son Gregory and Travis McMichael, with the murder of Arbery, a black man, according to The Atlanta Journal Constitution. .
Arbery was 25 years old when he was fatally shot in Brunswick in February after a confrontation with the McMichaels. The father and son followed Arbery, whose family said they had been running and unarmed at the time, in their truck after claiming they believed he was a burglary suspect.
The McMichael were arrested in May, nearly three months after the deadly shooting, after footage of the incident went viral online. The two have since been charged with murder and aggravated assault.
Kemp called the murder “horrific” in a statement obtained by local media on Tuesday, saying Arbery was “the victim of [a] Vigilante style of violence that has no place in Georgia. “
He said his proposed revision of the citizens’ arrest law would help “avoid the dire consequences of a vague and outdated law,” adding that the legislation “has broad, bipartisan support in the General Assembly, our law enforcement community, and civil rights. interest groups. “
“As state leaders, we owe it to our children to eradicate injustice wherever it is found and to leave this state better than we found it. I believe Republicans and Democrats can take up the challenge again, set aside party politics and support a balanced approach in overhauling the Georgian civil arrest law, ”he added.