National Civil and Human Rights Coalition Condemns Georgia’s Copycat Racial Profiling Law

Wade Henderson, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement in response to today’s signing of an Arizona S.B. 1070 copycat law in the state of Georgia by Governor Nathan Deal:

“The civil rights community is deeply disappointed with Georgia Governor Nathan Deal’s decision today to sign into law House Bill 87, an odious piece of legislation that is poised to do great harm to Georgia and to the fundamental ideals on which our country was founded.

Georgia’s lawmakers have not learned from Arizona’s mistakes. As the federal courts have already established, S.B. 1070 copycats like these turn American justice on its head. These laws presume everyone is guilty, contradicting the fundamental American presumption that those accused are innocent until proven otherwise.

Too many of us already know what that’s like. And we know the damage that racial profiling does – not only to us as individuals, but to entire communities.

This bill doesn’t address the serious issues that Georgia desperately needs to solve. It doesn’t improve the state’s quality of health care, or the education of its children. It doesn’t get the state’s economy moving. It doesn’t put people back into jobs at living wages, or help balance the state’s budget.

This legislation offers a false solution to Georgia’s problems that comes attached with a host of negative consequences. It discourages economic growth, encourages racial profiling, adds millions of dollars to the cost of law enforcement, demonizes entire communities, and puts an unconscionably high price on human dignity.”

Wade Henderson is president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition charged by its diverse membership to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its 200-plus member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.

###