ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia senators are backing Gov. Brian Kemp’s push for long prison sentences for gang members and even longer sentences for anyone convicted of recruiting minors into a gang.
The Senate voted 31-22 for Senate Bill 44 on Monday, mostly along party lines. The measure, which moves to the House for more debate, would add a mandatory five years to prison sentences for anyone convicted of a gang crime and 10 years for anyone convicted of recruiting minors into a gang.
The bill reverses a trend of Georgia lawmakers reducing mandatory sentences or refusing to add new ones. Now Kemp and other Republicans who campaigned last year on fighting crime say more criminals must be locked away for long stretches.
“There’s no room for gangs in Georgia, and you don’t need to come after our children,” said Sen. Bo Hatchett, a Cornelia Republican who is a Kemp floor leader.
The measure would require that anyone convicted under Georgia’s sweeping anti-gang law serve at least five years in state prison on top of any other sentence, restricting judges’ ability to reduce sentences and giving prosecutors an unusual right to appeal lesser sentences.