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State Hate Crimes
Bill Likely to Pass
by Ian W. Ginsburg
Hate crime legislation is hot. The Hate
Crimes Statistics Act has just passed the U.S.
Senate (see story page 19) and DeKalb
Commissioner Sherry Sutton continues work
on her DeKalb Country legislation.
On the state scene, Representative Nan
Orrock (D. District 30) has introduced legisla
tion (H.B. 1596) that would define hate crimes
as those based on a person's race, religion,
national origin, sex, HIV status, the perception
of HIV status and sexual orientation.
Nan Orrock
The recent letter bombings of a Georgia civil
rights activist and an Alabama Federal District
Court Judge alerted Orrock to the necessity of
proposing the bill. "We have put this legislation
together rapidly, because we want the offenders
to know that there are going to be serious con
sequences for the perpetrators of such crimes."
The bill will be heard before the Judiciary
Committee on February 13th; Orrock expects
approval as the legislation has already gained
the support of the Governor and twenty co
sponsors.
H.B. 1596 calls for a broad-based approach
to hate crimes and the problems its victims
face. Orrock stresses that the bill doesn't
change a hate crime from a misdemeanor to a
felony. However, it allows the courts to levy
heavier sentences and raises the penalties that
violators will face. "This bill will force crimi
nals to recognize that they will be made to
compensate for damage done either to persons
or property," says Orrock.
The rights of victims are also addressed by
the bill. According to Orrock, victims will be
able to seek increased punitive damages against
their attackers as well remuneration for court
costs and attorney's fees. With the passage of
the bill, the amount for which victims can sue
their violators will be increased. Additional
legal restrictions against the criminals, such as
restraining orders are also proposed by the bill.
The newly planned database would enable
state officials to keep a factual record of all
incidents that take place within the state.
Orrock feels that the knowledge gained by such
a network, "...would be invaluable. We would
be able to tell how widespread the incidents are
and where they occur the most. Plus, we will
ascertain where we need to go into the schools
and educate students about hate motivated
crime.”
Orrock is confident of passage and of the
message the bill communicates to hate crime
offenders in Georgia: "Hate crimes will not be
tolerated by this state."
One HIV Bill Stalled;
Another Introduced
There's some good news: S.B. 407 which
would have mandated annual widespread test
ing of food service personnel for salmonella,
TB, HIV and other infections has been assigned
to a six month study commission. In other
words, the regressive legislation is dead for
this session.
And some bad: Rep. Tommy Chambless (D.
District 133) of Albany has introduced H.B.
1789 which would permit several kinds of non-
consensual HIV testing.
In the name of protecting medical personnel,
the bill would permit "doctors to test a person
(without his or her knowledge or approval) if
he has had, is having or will have surgery"
within five days and has not previously been
treated by the doctor(s) or nurse(s) performing
that suigery according to Gil Robison, legisla
tive for the Georgia AIDS Coalition.
The bill is ostensibly aimed at use in emer
gency situations. But the Omnibus AIDS Bill,
passed by the Legislature in 1988, already per
mits testing in emergency room situations. The
net effect of such approval is probably moot,
however, since the turn-around time on HIV
antibody tests is far longer than most emergen
cy situations last.
"We have grave concerns that this will open
up doors to other kinds of testing without con
sent and begin a process of erosion of our hard
won work on the Omnibus AIDS Bill," says
Robison.
Under the proposed legislation, a person so
tested would not be charged for the test and, if
the test was negative, the person would not be
told (s)he had been tested and no record of it
would be kept.
But if the test came back positive, the
patient would be notified and given counseling.
A positive test would also become part of the
person's medical record making the purchase of
life and health insurance virtually impossible.
The bill will be reviewed by the House
Health and Ecology Committee.
Representatives Nan Orrock, Frank Redding
and Eleanor Richardson are metro-area mem
bers of that committee.
Union Supports Gays
A labor contract that would extend domestic
partnership benefits to some gay and lesbian
federal employees was denounced by the
Department of Housing and Urban
Development's (HUD) two top officials.
Jack Kemp, Secretary of HUD claimed the
contract with the HUD employee union illegal
ly "redefines the family."
The controversy was sparked by a clause in
the contract of the American Federation of
Government Employees (AFGE). Its proposed
definition of family would provide lesbian and
gay employees with familial leave benefits
identical to the privileges already offered het
erosexual workers.
Commenting on the role of the union in
advocating for gay and lesbian employees, Ivy
Young, director of NGLTF's Families Project,
said, "As we move in the 90's, the issue of ben
efits discrimination in the workplace will
become even more prominent - and unions
must play an important role in fighting that dis
crimination. Too often when contract negotia
tions get tough, our issues are the first to be
thrown off the table. AFGE seems determined
to fight this one out, and that's commendable."
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20/Southern Voice • February 15,1990