Remember David Hooks? The grandfather and burglary victim
who was shot in his own front hall by law enforcement executing a no-knock
search warrant based on information from the burglar?
Despite the horror of the case, no one was ever indicted -
thanks to the machinations of the Prosecuting Attorneys Council and their
illegal efforts to thwart the will of Laurens County citizens.
Now, they're trying to push a bill through the Georgia
General Assembly that will legalize the sleazy, unconstitutional practice of
manipulating grand juries to avoid accountability for government officials -
and they have the nerve to pretend it's a reform, simply because it transfers
one of cops' special grand jury privileges to prosecutors instead!
Now, they've scheduled a hearing on this bill in the Senate
with almost no notice: 3pm on Wednesday, March 9th in Room 307 of the Coverdell
Legislative Office Building. This legislation hasn't been vetted by the
Criminal Justice Reform Council, superior court judges, clerks, the defense
bar, or anyone else besides the prosecutors - and they're the ones with the
chutzpah to react to their own failures (like the Caroline Small case in
Savannah) with a demand for more power. HB941 is a constitutional and legal
disaster: it puts district attorneys in charge of grand juries, when the grand
jury is supposed to be the legal organ of accountability over what the district
attorneys are doing! It gives prosecutors unlimited power to conduct secret
mini-trials for law enforcement officers with no risk of punishment or
indictment. It's a double standard of justice for government employees and the
rest of us peasants, which is exactly the opposite of what our justice system
should stand
for.
PLEASE call and email these senators right now and tell them
to not to pass HB941. David Hooks deserved better. #gapol(https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/gapol?source=feed_text&story_id=10102580984847486)
Jesse.Stone@senate.ga.gov(mailto:Jesse.Stone@senate.ga.gov?subject=Stop%20HB941)
Elena.Parent@senate.ga.gov(mailto:Elena.Parent@senate.ga.gov?subject=Stop%20HB941)
(404) 656-5109
(404) 463-1314
William.Ligon@senate.ga.gov(mailto:William.Ligon@senate.ga.gov)(mailto:William.Ligon@senate.ga.gov?subject=Stop%20HB941)
Harold.Jones@senate.ga.gov(mailto:Harold.Jones@senate.ga.gov?subject=Stop%20HB941)(404)
656-0045
(404) 463-3942
John.Kennedy@senate.ga.gov(mailto:John.Kennedy@senate.ga.gov?subject=Stop%20HB941)
Vincent.Fort@senate.ga.gov(mailto:Vincent.Fort@senate.ga.gov?subject=Stop%20HB941)
(404) 656-7454
(404) 656-5091
Charlie.Bethel@senate.ga.gov(mailto:Charlie.Bethel@senate.ga.gov?subject=Stop%20HB941)
(404) 463-1383
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