FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Kathryn Hamoudah 404/688-1202 or [email protected]

Atlanta, GA—The Southern Center for Human Rights (SCHR) is thrilled at the Georgia Senate’s passage of House Bill 123 (HB 123). The bill, sponsored by Representative Bill Werkheiser (Glennville), seeks to protect those with intellectual disability and end the unconstitutional practice of sentencing them to death. Today, HB 123 passed out of the Senate, and if the House agrees to the changes made by the Senate, the bill will be sent to Governor Kemp’s office, where upon signature or the lapse of forty days, the bill will become law and go into immediate effect.

For the past two decades, the Southern Center for Human Rights (SCHR), along with Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (GACDL), and others have worked tirelessly to change a law that puts people with intellectual disability at greater risk of execution than any other state.

HB 123 is a long overdue reform that makes two critical changes to Georgia law:

• It lowers the standard of proof from beyond a reasonable doubt to preponderance of the evidence, aligning Georgia with nearly every other state.
• It ensures that determining intellectual disability is separate from determining guilt in capital cases. The Supreme Court has said that evidence about the crime is irrelevant to the determination of intellectual disability. Separating the determinations of guilt and intellectual disability will improve accuracy and reduce bias in the decision-making process. 

“SCHR has been advocating for this law change for decades. This change will put Georgia in line with twenty-six other states that have protections for people with intellectual disability,” said Terrica Redfield Ganzy, SCHR’s Executive Director. “We are deeply grateful to Chairman Werkheiser for his compassion and leadership on this issue. It is our honor to partner with him on this effort.”

Under this bill, if a person living with intellectual disability is found guilty, they may be sentenced to life or life without parole (LWOP). Under current law and the version of HB 123 that passed the House, a person charged in a capital case who is found guilty but determined to have intellectual disability receives a life sentence. While we categorically oppose LWOP, especially for people with diminished culpability due to age or intellectual disability, we continue to support HB 123, as the amended bill would still better protect people with intellectual disability from being sentenced to death.

The second change made by the Senate Judiciary Committee requires the defense to provide the prosecution with any evidence it intends to present at the pretrial hearing on intellectual disability. Likewise, the prosecution must provide the defense with any evidence it intends to use in opposition to a determination of intellectual disability.

Since 1976, SCHR has had a measurable impact on transforming the criminal legal system by challenging unconstitutional and unconscionable practices across the Deep South. SCHR has argued and won five death penalty cases at the United States Supreme Court, four of which challenged profound race discrimination in capital trials. SCHR won a decision from the Georgia Supreme Court outlawing the use of the electric chair and deeming it “cruel and unusual punishment.”

SCHR will be hosting a reception this summer, on a date to be determined, to honor advocates who have been advocating for this change.