Bill > HB582

This bill, known as the Georgia Survivor Justice Act, introduces several significant legal reforms aimed at providing additional protections and considerations for survivors of family violence, dating violence, and child abuse in criminal proceedings. The bill expands defendants' ability to present evidence of abuse they experienced in murder and other criminal prosecutions, allowing them to introduce a wider range of evidence such as protective order records, expert testimony about the psychological effects of abuse, and documentation of seeking help from counselors or law enforcement. It modifies the legal defense of coercion by removing the murder exception and broadening the circumstances under which a defendant can claim coercion. The bill also creates a new sentencing provision that allows defendants to present evidence of abuse as a mitigating factor during sentencing, potentially resulting in reduced sentences for those who can demonstrate that abuse significantly contributed to their criminal offense. Additionally, the bill establishes a legal privilege for communications made during victim-centered practices and victim-offender dialogues, protecting the confidentiality of these interactions, and introduces new oath requirements for peace officers that emphasize fairness and impartiality, while clarifying that aspirational language in these oaths does not have legal standing in court proceedings.

Justice

https://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/70670