Criminal Justice (Civil Rights)

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Code Section 21-2-216 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to qualifications of electors generally, reregistration of electors purged from list, eligibility of nonresidents who vote in presidential elections, retention of qualification for standing as elector, evidence of citizenship, and check of convicted felons and deceased persons databases, so as to restrict voting rights for judicially incompetent persons; to provide for related matters; to provide for a contingent effective date and automatic repeal; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Title 16 of the O.C.G.A., relating to crimes and offenses, so as to provide for a coercion defense to a charge of murder for defendant mothers of unborn children; to provide for construction; to provide for exceptions; to provide for concurrent prosecuting authority of the Attorney General and prosecuting attorneys in certain cases; to provide for applicability; to remove exceptions that allow for assault and battery on an unborn child; to amend Code Section 19-7-1 of the O.C.G.A., relating to in whom parental power lies, how such power lost, and recovery for homicide of a child or unborn child, so as to provide for the right to recovery for the life of a child beginning at the stage of fertilization; to provide for related matters; to provide for legislative findings and determinations; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Chapter 5 of Title 51 of the Official Code of Georgia, relating to libel and slander, so as to prohibit individuals from bringing defamation actions against another individual who makes a communication regarding an incident of sexual assault, sexual harassment, or sex discrimination when that individual believed such incident to have occurred; to provide for attorney's fees and costs for a prevailing defendant; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

SR 429 creates a Senate study committee to examine Georgia's felony disenfranchisement laws, which deny voting rights to people with felony convictions even after they've completed prison sentences. The committee, composed of six senators appointed by the Senate President, will study the current constitutional clause, assess its impact on reintegration, and recommend potential reforms by December 1, 2025. It will specifically evaluate whether to allow voting rights restoration for individuals serving community supervision post-incarceration, considering economic, legal, and societal effects. This resolution does not change voting rights directly but sets up a process to review and potentially reform Georgia's approach to felony disenfranchisement.