Update: Georgia Hate Crimes Bill Supported by Womble Bond Dickinson, Other Georgia Companies Becomes Law

ATLANTA—Womble Bond Dickinson would like to express our gratitude to the Georgia General Assembly and Gov. Brian Kemp for enacting the state’s first Hate Crimes Law. Womble Bond Dickinson, working through the Metro Atlanta Chamber, was one of many prominent Georgia businesses urging support for this important legislation.

The bill passed both chambers with bipartisan support and Gov. Kemp promptly signed it into law on June 26.

The new law increases penalties for crimes targeting victims due to race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, mental disability or physical disability. As Womble Bond Dickinson Atlanta Office Managing Partner Joel Pieper said, the new law sends “a powerful message that our state is committed to fairness and justice for all, and that violence targeting specific groups of people will not be tolerated.”

Womble Bond Dickinson also recently joined the Law Firm Antiracism Alliance, a coalition of more than 140 firms working together to address issues of systemic racism, both in the legal profession and in society at large.