GEORGIA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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Daily Report Number 34
March 19, 2004

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Today House lawmakers addressed what many believe to be the most important issue in any legislative session: the protection of Georgia’s children. SB 467 would correct what most consider to be a serious hole in state law. Georgia is currently the only state in the union which does not have a felony child endangerment law on the books. This means that, as the law currently reads, unless an adult actually murders or severely beats a child the offense would merely be considered a misdemeanor in the eyes of the law.

Lt. Governor Mark Taylor has long championed the push to close this gap, presenting bills to do so over the last four years. This year the Lt. Governor got another big name supporter to boost his efforts. Governor Sonny Perdue, also a long time champion of children’s issues, threw his considerable influence into the ring. Together he and the Lt. Governor authored SB 467, which combines language from the Lt. Governor’s previous legislation with the Governor’s desire to get tough on those who would place their children in harm’s way by manufacturing methamphetamines.

Taking aspects from the Lt. Governor’s proposals, SB 467 creates, for the first time in Georgia code, a definition of criminal negligence. The new definition describes criminal negligence as any willful act which displays a reckless disregard for the safety of another person, and which could injure that person. This definition could be used to prosecute a person who leaves a young child in a hot automobile all day long, or a parent who leaves a young child home alone all weekend. Next, the proposal would change the definition of 2nd degree child cruelty. Currently, 2nd degree child cruelty would involve cases where a parent commits an act of family violence against another family member in the child’s presence. However, SB 467 bumps this type of offense down to 3rd degree child cruelty, and inserts in its place a felony child cruelty provision. The new language would apply to any person who, through criminal negligence, “causes a child under age 18 cruel or excessive physical or mental pain.” Persons guilty of 2nd degree child cruelty could be sentenced with up to ten years imprisonment.

SB 467 also incorporates the Governor’s push to protect children from the physical danger involved in the highly volatile process of manufacturing methamphetamines. During the past two years, Georgians have read time and time again about children who were killed or seriously injured in fires which were caused by their parents’ efforts to cook methamphetamines. As recently as this week three children died in a fire which authorities suspect could have been caused by adults who were attempting to make the illegal drug. Hoping to save the lives of innocent children, Governor Perdue included language in SB 467 that would make it a felony to manufacture methamphetamines when a child under age 18 is present. Likewise, the felony provision would apply to persons who, in the presence of a child, possess chemicals which are intended to be used to manufacture methamphetamines. Persons violating this statute would serve at least two, and as many as fifteen years in prison. However, if a child is actually injured due to the manufacture of methamphetamines the punishment would increase to a prison term lasting between five and twenty years.

A couple of members expressed concern over the proposal. They wondered if the term “excessive mental or physical pain” might not be too broad and subject to conjecture, thereby affecting a parent’s right to discipline his or her child. Others worried that the new statute would infringe upon a person’s right to own and keep a loaded firearm at the ready in their home.

SB 467's sponsors countered that it would be illogical to prosecute a parent who willfully runs a scalding bath which severely burns their child, while making exceptions for parents who are criminally irresponsible with their firearm. Likewise, they noted that Georgia’s existing statute could be strictly construed to prosecute parents who discipline their children, and yet it is not being done. They suggested that the law’s intent is clear, and that no such frivolous cases could stand grand jury or judicial scrutiny.

Members overwhelmingly passed SB 467, voting 161-1 to send it to the Governor’s desk to be signed into law.

Other items receiving passage on the House floor today include:

• SB 421 (147-0)- would allow the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government to work with the Georgia Municipal Association to develop and administer a training program for municipal officials serving throughout the state.
  
• SB 500 (147-0)- amends Georgia code to allow state run authorities to purchase government bonds from foreign countries such as Israel.

Lawmakers will be in recess over the weekend, but will return on Monday, March 22, 2004 at 10:00 a.m. for the 35th legislative day.

Georgia House of Representatives
Public Information Office

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