Wide-ranging legislation aimed at cracking down on rioting protesters in Georgia that criminal-justice advocates say could trample on free-speech rights faced debate in the General Assembly Tuesday.
The bill, sponsored by state Sen. Randy Robertson, R-Cataula, contains several proposals to punish vandalism and violence during protests such as those seen last summer in response to high-profile fatal shootings by police.
It seeks to “look at and redefine what peaceful assemblies were,” Robertson said, by making it a felony with fines and prison time to commit violent acts in gatherings of seven people or more, block a highway or road and deface public structures like monuments and cemeteries.