Bill Text: GA HR646 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Southern Center for Human Rights; 35th anniversary; recognize
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)
Status: (Passed) 2011-03-22 - House Read and Adopted [HR646 Detail]
Download: Georgia-2011-HR646-Introduced.html
11 LC
94 4602
House
Resolution 646
By:
Representatives Benfield of the
85th,
Drenner of the
86th,
Bell of the
58th,
Henson of the
87th,
Brooks of the
63rd,
and others
A
RESOLUTION
Recognizing
and commending the Southern Center for Human Rights on the occasion of its 35th
anniversary; and for other purposes.
WHEREAS,
the Southern Center for Human Rights (SCHR) is an Atlanta based nonprofit law
firm dedicated to providing legal representation to people facing the death
penalty, challenging human rights violations in prisons and jails, seeking to
improve legal representation for poor people accused of crimes through
litigation and advocacy, and advocating for criminal justice reform on behalf of
those affected by the system in the Southern United States; and
WHEREAS,
the SCHR was originally named the Southern Prisoners Defense Committee and was
founded in 1976 by ministers and activists in response to the United States
Supreme Court's reinstatement of the death penalty and to the horrendous
conditions in Southern prisons and jails; and
WHEREAS,
for the last 35 years, the SCHR has struggled alongside civil rights
organizations, families of incarcerated people, and faith based communities to
protect the civil and human rights of people of color, poor people, and those
facing the death penalty or confined to prisons and jails in the South;
and
WHEREAS,
the SCHR is working towards building a society that does not use the existence
of crime to justify capital punishment, mass incarceration, or the exploitation
of poor people and people of color, and instead secures public safety through
prevention, treatment, and economic justice; and
WHEREAS,
the goals of the SCHR include reducing the number of people on death row in
Alabama and Georgia by means other than execution, reducing the number of people
under criminal justice control in Alabama and Georgia, securing a fully-funded
indigent defense system with competent counsel in Georgia, and reducing the
financial incentives driving the growth of the criminal justice system;
and
WHEREAS,
over the years, SCHR attorneys and investigators have earned a reputation for
zealous advocacy and the highest quality legal work on behalf of individuals
facing the death penalty and have set the standard in both fact and mitigation
investigation; and
WHEREAS,
two SCHR cases, Amadeo
v. Zant and
Ford v.
Georgia, resulted in unanimous decisions
by the United States Supreme Court setting aside Georgia death sentences due to
racial discrimination at capital trials; and
WHEREAS,
the SCHR also has a strong civil litigation practice that is able to bring
impact litigation challenging the systemic deficiencies and has forced county,
state, and federal governments to make significant improvements in prisons and
jails across the South to reduce overcrowding, provide adequate medical and
mental health care, abate violence and abuse, and thereby fulfill their
constitutional obligations to protect the people in their custody;
and
WHEREAS,
the SCHR's civil litigation has resulted in the passage of the Georgia Indigent
Defense Act of 2003 and the establishment of the Georgia Public Defender
Standards Council and the Georgia Capital Defender Office; and
WHEREAS,
in the course of advocating for people in prison, the SCHR has seen, and in turn
publicized, a myriad of abuses inflicted by a spectrum of criminal justice
policies and practices; and
WHEREAS,
the Human Rights Internship Program at the SCHR is one of the most respected and
competitive internship opportunities for law school and college students in the
country, in which students are given significant responsibility, actively
participate in SCHR's litigation and advocacy, and receive in-depth training
throughout the program; and
WHEREAS,
today, the SCHR continues to work towards its vision that the criminal justice
system be used not as a tool to concentrate power and control, but instead as an
instrument of true justice by which individuals and communities remain
accountable to each other; and
WHEREAS,
it is abundantly fitting and proper that the outstanding work of this fine
organization be appropriately
recognized.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES that the members of this body congratulate the Southern Center for Human Rights on its 35th anniversary, recognize the legacy of achievement and the contributions it has made to Georgia's legal community, and extend best wishes for continued success in its ongoing efforts to make a profound impact and footprint on the world and in Georgia courtrooms.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES that the members of this body congratulate the Southern Center for Human Rights on its 35th anniversary, recognize the legacy of achievement and the contributions it has made to Georgia's legal community, and extend best wishes for continued success in its ongoing efforts to make a profound impact and footprint on the world and in Georgia courtrooms.
BE
IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Clerk of the House of Representatives is authorized
and directed to transmit an appropriate copy of this resolution to the Southern
Center for Human Rights.