{"id":6584,"date":"2016-03-30T11:40:21","date_gmt":"2016-03-30T16:40:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/?p=6584"},"modified":"2016-04-05T12:09:16","modified_gmt":"2016-04-05T17:09:16","slug":"ajc-civil-rights-groups-urge-lawmakers-to-change-unlicensed-driver-laws-original-version","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/2016\/03\/30\/ajc-civil-rights-groups-urge-lawmakers-to-change-unlicensed-driver-laws-original-version\/","title":{"rendered":"AJC -Civil rights groups urge lawmakers to change unlicensed driver laws (original version)"},"content":{"rendered":"

http:\/\/www.ajc.com\/news\/news\/state-regional-govt-politics\/civil-rights-groups-urge-lawmakers-to-change-unlic\/nqrHx\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Civil rights groups urge lawmakers to change unlicensed driver laws<\/strong><\/p>\n

Latino civil rights organizations are arguing that an eight-year-old law is making felons out of immigrants who drive without a license in Georgia.<\/p>\n

The Atlanta-based Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights and the Advancement Project from Washington D.C., released a report Wednesday that also says the law\u2019s increased fines for driving without a license forces families who struggle economically deeper into poverty. The civil rights groups are urging lawmakers to revoke the law, although the 2016 General Assembly session ends Thursday and there has been nothing filed to do so.<\/p>\n

Senate Bill 350, sponsored by former state Sen. John J. Wiles, R-Marietta, passed the state General Assembly in 2008. The law increased penalties for unlicensed drivers and made the fourth such offense in five years a felony.<\/p>\n

People with no legal status are unable to obtain driver\u2019s licenses under Georgia law<\/strong> (italics mine,\u00a0dak)\u00a0<\/strong><\/em> but limited public transportation makes it difficult to get around without driving in the state.<\/p>\n

Wiles said he sponsored the legislation after an unlicensed driver struck and killed Cobb County Sheriff\u2019s Deputy Loren Lilly on New Year\u2019s Eve 2006. The former state senator argues that the legislation does not discriminate against any groups but rather is designed to \u201cprotect citizens from unlicensed drivers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two civil rights groups disagree and claim the law \u201cwas created in particular to look for people to self-deport\u201d or leave the state.<\/p>\n

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Civil rights groups urge lawmakers to change unlicensed driver laws photo<\/em><\/p>\n

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\u201cSome immigrants are not able to produce driver\u2019s licenses, and if they\u2019re arrested for the first time they\u2019re paying between $700 to $1,000,\u201d said Adelina Nicholls, executive director of Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights. \u201cThe city of Roswell is charging people $3,500 in bond for the first offense.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ignacio Portillo, a contractor, claims his family has suffered severe economic consequences as a result of Georgia\u2019s unlicensed driver laws. Portillo said police have stopped him several times in the past few years and that his fines have increased with each traffic citation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we have found is that it is a racially discriminatory law and it\u2019s having a disproportionate impact on communities of color,\u201d said Flavia Jimenez, senior attorney and project coordinator of immigrant justice for Advancement Project.<\/p>\n

Supporters of the legislation argue that the law is not discriminatory in nature but rather seeks to address the risk that unlicensed, and often uninsured, drivers pose.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a taxpayer, we\u2019re tired of people who are in this country illegally playing the victim,\u201d said Shawn Hanley, vice chairman of the Georgia Immigration Enforcement Review Board. \u201cI have to drive a four-year-old in my car, and I have to worry about a guy down the street who\u2019s an unlicensed driver and who\u2019s on his fourth ticket in five years and has no insurance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wiles said, \u201cThe law simply seeks to punish people who have repeatedly violated the state law of Georgia by driving without a license four times in the last five years. If you want to exercise a driving privilege you must have a driver\u2019s license.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t want people to get prosecuted. You want people to follow the law. You don\u2019t want to lock people up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wiles also said neither organization reached out to him when making the report, and said it \u201clacks any balance.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

http:\/\/www.ajc.com\/news\/news\/state-regional-govt-politics\/civil-rights-groups-urge-lawmakers-to-change-unlic\/nqrHx\/ Civil rights groups urge lawmakers to change unlicensed driver laws Latino civil rights organizations are arguing that an eight-year-old law is making felons out of immigrants who drive without a license in Georgia. The Atlanta-based Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights and the Advancement Project from Washington D.C., released a report Wednesday that also […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6584"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6584"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6584\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6641,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6584\/revisions\/6641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thedustininmansociety.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}