On Monday, the Georgia state Senate voted to pass a bill that aims to combat gang violence and protect children from gang activity.
The bill, Senate Bill 44, would add a mandatory five years to prison sentences for anyone convicted of a gang crime and a mandatory 10 years for anyone convicted of recruiting children into a gang.
The Senate voted 31-22, with almost exclusively Republican support, to pass the bill. It now moves to the House for further debate.
“I commend the State Senate for passing SB 44 today. Those who voted yes are helping us take the fight to gangs in Georgia and protecting the children they target for recruitment,” Republican Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said. “The message is clear: come after our children, and we will come after you!”
https://twitter.com/GovKemp/status/1625224717748543514?s=20&t=SIf0wuYpxoW88to17Y7TAg
Kemp pushed for the legislation last week during a Georgia Anti-Gang Network meeting in Atlanta with Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr and other local, state, and federal law enforcement officials.
“You come after our children. We are coming after you,” Kemp said at the time. “These kids are being recruited in middle school, in elementary school, this is not a high school problem. When kids get to high school it is already too late for many of them. We know that they are being recruited at earlier and earlier ages.”
“There’s people at the top that are driving this all the way down to our young children and that is who the bill is designed to go after and send a message and that is exactly what I believe we will do,” Kemp added.
