Police State GA HB 310

HB310 Passes Committee: Contact Senate Leader to Oppose Big Brother

 

Call the Senate Rules Committee and Your State Senator Today.  Tell them to vote NO on HB310.

 

The Senate Public Safety Committee passed the  HB310 [http://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/en-US/Display/20152016/HB/310] "Big Brother" bill late Monday afternoon over unanimous objections from the general public who testified during a grueling double session that was postponed after the first hour and resulted in all witnesses being forced to return two hours later. Rep. Alan Powell, who sponsored the bill contended that:

 

the bill was simply an "unplugging and re-plugging" of criminal defense functions,  there were no new police powers granted,  that no issues were raised in the House hearing and  that recent new opposition was suffering from "paranoia".

 

Attorneys Catherine Bernard and Rose McConnell started the unanimous public opposition with detailed critiques of the bill by refuting these claims. The session included some heated exchanges after Attorney Catherine Bernard repeatedly told the committee that Rep. Alan Powell had misrepresented the bill to the committee and her contention was supported by VoterGA founder, Garland Favorito, who knew Rep. Powell personally. Powell later complained to the Committee that Attorney Barnard was merely an indigent defense lawyer who had called him a liar.

 

Testimony focused on the massive expansion of power that the governor had incorporated into the bill even though that power was unnecessary to implement the criminal justice reforms that the bill contained. This included:

 

The massive expansion of government that is allowable in the bill (including what could become hundreds of new community supervision units and thousands of new community supervision employees)   The potential for a governor to politicize the newly proposed Department of Community Supervision with centralized decision making and politically generated contracts rather than the current criminal justice model that supports more localized control   Scenarios of how a governor could use the new police powers to arrest those who disagree with his policies and then to impose sanctions against them in a new pre-trial release program even though they had never been convicted of a crime

 

The Senators had little or no response for the issue of how a Governor could use his newly defined police powers against political adversaries. Some Senators implied that since the governor presides over most of the current departments there would not be a significant risk of politicizing other aspects of the new Department of Community Supervision.

 

However, Hank Sullivan of the Lanier Tea Party countered eloquently about how the centralization and consolidation of locally controlled power and decision making will lead to the Department of Community Supervision becoming a political arm of the governor.

 

Some Senators also contended that the legislature could control the expansion of government through appropriations, however, that argument lacks credibility. It is based on the assumption that they would suddenly muster enough courage to challenge the governor's demands when they don't even have enough courage to vote against the bill now when it is overwhelming opposed by the general public.

 

Former U.S. Senate candidate Derrick Grayson explained to the committee that this bill did not benefit the black community despite claims to the contrary and Dave Rittenhouse closed with an historical analogy entailing similarities between HB310 and regulations implemented in Nazi Germany prior to World War II.

 

Senator Harold Jones was not present for the vote since the meeting was rescheduled for the exact same time that he had a previously scheduled Non-Civil Judiciary Committee hearing.

 

All of the remaining Senators who voted for the "Big Brother" bill were inundated prior to the hearing with calls and Emails from the general public opposing the bill. Ironically, Republicans were responsible for passing the bill even though all of the opposition testimony came from Republicans or Independents. John Albers voted for the bill after two of his own constituents testified against it. Michael Williams voted for the bill even though his recent campaign had benefited from supportive videos made by Nydia Tisdale whose testified against the bill.

 

The passage of HB310 is a definitive measure of what is wrong with the Republican Party. At least three witnesses admonished the Senators that most of them ran on a limited government platform but were growing the government dramatically by voting for this bill. Witnesses also explained how the bill could jeopardize their constituents' freedom, which they were obligated to protect. But it was all to no avail. HB310 now moves to the Rules Committee and will likely receive a floor vote unless Majority Leader David Shafer or chairman Jeff Mullis, decide not to move the bill this year because of public opposition. You can contact them and your Senators to voice your concern either way.

 

Majority Leader Sen. David Shafer (404) 656-0048, [http://david.shafer@senate.ga.gov]

 

Rules Chairman Sen. Jeff Mullis (404) 656-0057,

[http://jeff.mullis@senate.ga.gov]

 

Senate List [http://www.senate.ga.gov/SENATORS/en-US/SenateMembersList.aspx]

 

This message is forwarded by In Defense Of Liberty for:

 

Garland Favorito, 770 993 3622, [http://www.Voterga.org]

 

Public Safety Committee

 

Harper, Tyler  [http://tyler.harper@senate.ga.gov] (404) 463-5263 Chair

 

Albers, John  [http://john.albers@senate.ga.gov] (404) 463-4161 Vice Chair

 

Dugan, Mike  [http://mike.dugan@senate.ga.gov] (404) 656-7454

 

Seay, Valencia  [http://valencia.seay@senate.ga.gov] (404) 656-5095

 

Williams, Michael  [http://michael.williams@senate.ga.gov] (404) 656-7127

 

Watson, Ben  [http://ben.watson@senate.ga.gov] (404) 656-7880

 

Jones II, Harold V.  [http://harold.jones@senate.ga.gov] (404) 463-3942 (not present for vote)

 

Please share with your friends, neighbors and contact lists.

Source:http://email.indefenseofliberty.tv/t/r-fb-qhjhudt-irjhdulyli-z/

Comments

This is a dangerous, disruptive, expensive bill that establishes an appointed committee to be the Georgia Czars for state and local agencies who deal with the criminal justice system.  Appointed, unelected governance isn’t working elsewhere. The Regional Commissions are but one example of the folly of removing local control from local governments and using appointed committees. This could become the state’s version of homeland security, unwieldy, expansive and out of control.

If counties want to shirk their jailing and probation responsibilities, they are doing a disservice. Private companies who want to overcharge to run prisons, probation services and “social services” would need to be avoided. Somehow, I don’t think an appointed board would avoid them. 

We are already dealing with a totalitarian federal government and don’t need another tyrannical entity at the local level. Parents are already dealing with medical and foster-care kidnapping. Regionalism already threatens our rights.  The EPA already threatens to impose a 500% increase in our electric bills and take our property and our water. Enough Police State Bills already.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader