Georgia House approves antisemitism protections under hate crimes law

Several Democrats who opposed the bill said religious protections are already covered by the state’s hate crimes law.

“It begs the question as to why the Georgia code doesn’t define anti-Black racism or anti-Latino racism or anti-Asian racism,” said state Rep. Jasmine Clark, a Democrat from Lilburn. “A bill such as this may unintentionally have the effect of having each marginalized group wondering where is their definition in the code.”

But Panitch said that while the state’s hate crimes law includes racial and religious discrimination, it doesn’t necessarily cover the usage of symbols such as swastikas against Jews.

Georgia’s hate crimes law, which was enacted in 2020, allows harsher criminal penalties against those who target their victims on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, sex, national origin, religion, or physical or mental disability. House Bill 30 would add antisemitism as evidence of discriminatory intent under the hate crimes law.

The bill will next be considered by the Georgia Senate.