(Reuters) – Georgia Governor Brian Kemp on Friday signed a hate crimes bill into law, adding penalties to criminals motivated by race, color, gender or sexual orientation.
“We must do our part to make sure that our state is a place where people, no matter their skin color, can live and prosper,” Kemp said at a signing ceremony.
A previous hate-crimes law in the state was struck down by the Georgia Supreme Court in 2004 for being “unconstitutionally vague,” and efforts to revise it over the years had failed.
(Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta,)
