Bill Text: GA HR646 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Introduced

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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

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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.

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.