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PAGE 8A PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS THURSDAY. MARCH 11.2021
Ga. House unanimously approves
overhauling citizen’s arrest law
By Dave Williams
Bureau Chief
Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA - Legislation
to overhaul Georgia’s Civil
War-era citizen’s arrest law
inspired by the murder of Ah-
maud Arbery last year passed
the state House of Represen
tatives unanimously on Mon
day.
House Bill 479, which
now heads to the Georgia
Senate, is a follow-up to the
hate-crimes law the General
Assembly passed last June in
the aftermath of the death of
George Floyd, a Black man
from Minneapolis, at the
hands of a white police offi
cer.
Arbery, a 25-year-old
Black man, was gunned
down while jogging near
Brunswick in February 2020
by two white men. The two,
now facing murder charges
along with a third white man,
have claimed they were at
tempting to make a citizen’s
arrest.
“Ahmaud’s death was not
in vain because we’re going
to bring change,” Rep. Bert
Reeves, R-Marietta, the bill’s
chief sponsor, said on the
House floor before Monday’s
vote. “Every single one of us
has an opportunity to take
part in Ahmaud’s legacy.”
Rep. Calvin Smyre, D-
Columbus, the House’s
longest serving member, said
the citizen’s arrest legislation
is the natural next step to the
hate crimes law.
“Last year, Georgia re
moved a dark cloud from
over the state,” he said.
“Now, is the time for us to re
move that cloud again.”
Reeves’ bill would do
away with a state law in ef
fect since 1863 that lets pri
vate citizens arrest someone
who commits a crime in their
presence or during an escape
attempt. It still would permit
off-duty police officers and
business owners to detain
suspects they believe to have
committed a crime on their
property.
The legislation would not
affect Georgia’s self-defense
and stand-your-ground laws,
which require different legal
standards for allowing people
to use reasonable force to
protect themselves.
“It’s an old bill that’s out
dated. We have no need for
it,” said Rep. Don Hogan, R-
St. Simons Island, who repre
sents the House district
where Arbery’s murder oc
curred.
“This is the right thing to
do,” he added. “It’s supported
by the community in Glynn
County.”
The bill has the backing of
Gov. Brian Kemp and the
legislative leaders of both
parties.
“Our overhaul of the citi
zen's arrest statute strikes a
critical balance between pro
tecting the lives and liveli
hoods of our families, our
friends, and our neighbors,
and preventing rogue vigilan-
tism from threatening the se
curity and God-given
potential of all Georgians,”
the governor said after Mon
day’s vote.
Consumer Ed: Credit card surcharges
Dear Consumer Ed:
How much of a sur
charge are merchants al
lowed to charge you for
paying with a credit card?
Consumer Ed says:
Each time a customer
pays with a credit card, the
merchant must pay a transac
tion fee to the company that
issued the credit card. Instead
of merchants absorbing this
expense, they are permitted
to pass the transaction fee
along to the consumer, which
is considered a “surcharge”.
Importantly, restrictions exist
to ensure consumers obtain
clear, transparent, and up
front disclosure about sur
charges.
Credit card surcharges are
usually presented as a fee or
percentage of the transaction,
though the amount of the sur
charge cannot exceed the
amount the merchant pays to
accept the card. This amount
is generally two to three per
cent of the purchase price. If
customers instead opt to pay
by cash, check, or debit card,
merchants are permitted to
offer a discount equivalent to
the credit card surcharge that
may have been factored in to
the regular advertised price,
as long as that discount is of
fered to all customers.
In any case, merchants
who add a credit card sur
charge onto their customers’
bills must post a sign at the
point of entry to the business
notifying customers. Mer
chants must also disclose the
exact amount of the sur
charge at the point of sale and
on customers’ receipts. A
note of caution: for online
purchases, merchants are
only required to disclose this
surcharge on the first page
where the potential customer
is prompted to enter in his or
her credit card information.
Regardless of the method
of payment, merchants are
not permitted to mislead cus
tomers, whether by decep
tively advertising a lower
price than they actually
charge or by concealing any
differences between credit,
debit, and cash prices. If a
merchant fails to clearly and
conspicuously disclose what
it charges for the transaction,
including any additional fees,
that may violate Georgia
laws prohibiting deceptive or
false advertising.
Additionally, there have
been reports of merchants as
sessing Covid-19 surcharges.
Depending on a variety of
factors, the collection of
Covid-related surcharges or
fees may be permissible.
However, at a minimum, any
Family Matters: Danger of little white lies
By Mary Migliaro
Parent Mentor
As the primary role mod
els in children's lives, parents
play a vital part in showcas
ing honesty. They also have
the most influence when it
comes to instilling a deep-
rooted commitment to telling
the truth.
According to the Ameri
can Academy of Child &
Adolescent Psychiatry, chil
dren and adults lie for similar
reasons: to get out of trouble,
for personal gain, to impress
or protect someone, or to be
polite. Children also tell little
white lies because they want
to make themselves sound
exciting to ‘fit in’ or they
have observed another child
lying. The problem with this
behavior is that over time, it
can lead to bigger lies about
very significant things.
Lying occurs in various
ways and according to the
age and developmental stage
of the child. Here are some of
the characteristics of lying at
these ages and stages and
how parents can respond:
Toddlers and Preschoolers
(Ages 2 to 4)
Because toddlers' lan
guage skills are just emerg
ing, they do not have a clear
idea yet of where truth begins
and ends. Toddlers also have
a shaky grasp on the differ
ence between reality, day
dreams, wishes, fantasies,
and fears, says Elizabeth
Berger, child psychiatrist,
and author of Raising Kids
with Character. They are too
young to be punished for
lying, but parents can subtly
begin to encourage truthful
ness.
School-Age Kids
(Ages 5 to 8)
Between the ages of 5 and
8, children will tell more lies
to test what they can get
away with, especially lies re-
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lated to school classes, home
work, teachers, and friends.
Maintaining the lies may still
be difficult, even though they
are becoming better at con
cealing them. Because
school-age children are keen
observers, parents must con
tinue to be good role models.
Be careful about what lies
you may be used to saying.
Even something as small as
"Tell them I'm not at home"
when you are, can send a
very mixed message to a
school-age child. Notice
when a child is being honest
and provide praise and posi
tive feedback.
Tweens (Ages 9 to 12)
Most children this age are
well on their way to estab
lishing a trustworthy and
conscientious identity. They
are also becoming more
adept at maintaining lies and
more sensitive to the reper
cussions of their actions in
cluding strong feelings of
guilt after lying. Longer con
versations about honesty are
necessary, as there will be
rare "little white lie" mo
ments when some dishonesty
is acceptable in order to be
polite or to spare another per
son's feelings. When situa
tions like this arise, be
straightforward with your
child to avoid sending mixed
messages.
In general, take the time
regularly to encourage your
children to be honest and ex
plain the reasons why it is
important. Children respond
well when they understand
reasons why we do things
and how the situation could
affect someone else.
If you are in a situation
where you know your child is
lying to you, try not to let
your emotions take control.
After you have had time to
calm down, talk through the
situation with your child. Ask
them what has happened and
try to separate the lie and the
behavior that led to it, so that
your child understands the
importance of honesty as
well as the importance of
why we don’t do the wrong
thing.
Explain to children that
“Our liberty
depends on the
freedom of
the press, and
that cannot be
limited without
being lost.”
- Thomas Jefferson
price representations must be
truthful and not misleading.
Businesses need to provide
notice of their policies and
other material information
before the consumer makes a
decision to purchase. The
failure to include the sur
charge or fee in an advertised
price could be considered an
unfair or deceptive practice,
and potentially be a violation
of Georgia law.
If you believe a merchant
is improperly charging fees,
failing to disclose what it is
charging, or otherwise en
gaging in false or misleading
sales practices, you can file a
complaint with the Georgia
Department of Law’s Con
sumer Protection Division by
visiting consumer.ga.gov or
by calling 404-651-8600.
Scholarships available
for family research/ history
from Honea-Worley Family
Scholarship Fund
• First place is $1,500; second place is $750.
• High school seniors only — not required to be
college-bound.
• Applicants need to submit a four-generation family
history where at least one person in the research has
significant ties to Pickens County.
• Research should extend from current person back
through parents, grandparents and great-grandparents.
• More than just dates, places and names, research should
show a story of the people - who they were, where they
came from, their churches, professions, education,
interesting life experiences.
• Documentation, similar to a term paper is required.
Help can be obtained in the Georgia Room at the
Pickens library.
• Works will be judged by an independent panel.
• Deadline is May 15 by noon. Works should be
dropped off at Century 21 Lindsey and Pauley, 25
North Main Street, Jasper
For questions, contact Maria Boling at 770-355-6537
or email mariaboling911 @yahoo.com
This scholarship is managed by
the Pickens Historical Society
for the Honea-Worley families.
“It is our sincere hope every
graduating senior knows and is
proud of their family’s history. ”
Our members will be glad to as
sist anyone preparing works to
enter.
everyone makes mistakes
and that when we make mis
takes, it is important to leam
from them. Discuss what
they could’ve done differ
ently. Children need to feel
safe, secure and supported to
open up about mistakes.
Realize that your children
are not always going to tell
you the truth. Taking a mo
ment to think about why they
are lying should help you re
spond to their lies more ap
propriately. Dealing with the
little white lies now will pre
vent dealing with bigger lies
in the future.
[Mary Migliaro, M.Ed. is
an educator and Parent Men
tor. She may be contacted at
marymigliaro@aol.com.]
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Masks required in building
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©
Saturday, March 27th @nam
Chattahoochee Technical
College too Campus Dr.
Jasper, Ga 30143.
"Comedian Ken Kington
"Amazing Food
"Silent Auction
"Supporting Kids in Pickens,
Gilmer & Fannin Counties
To reserve your tickets
call 706-253-2582 ext. 2 or
email crasco@bgcng.org
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