RALEIGH, N.C. - Earlier today, the N.C. Senate passed House Bill 805 (HB 805), legislation with several extremely harmful provisions intended to stifle free speech and the right to protest. All Senate Democrats who were present voted against the bill and in defense of the right to protest. The bill requires a concurrence vote in the N.C. House of Representatives before being sent to Governor Cooper. The ACLU of North Carolina strongly opposes HB 805.
Racial justice organizations and community groups from across the state have been clear and consistent in calling for lawmakers to reject HB 805. As Governor’s Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice Appointee Kerwin Pittman told members of the Senate Rules Committee on August 10, 2021, “This is an anti-Black Lives Matter bill...the moral compass is on the table. Which side will you be on?”
Daniel Bowes, director of policy and advocacy for the ACLU of North Carolina, issued the following statement after the Senate vote on HB 805:
“House Bill 805 is a flagrant attempt to vilify the Black Lives Matter movement and undermine the ability of North Carolinians to effectively advocate against police violence and systemic racial inequities in law enforcement. This bill imposes more severe criminal penalties for vaguely-defined rioting offenses and the same enhanced pretrial conditions that apply to defendants charged with capital murder.
“If this bill becomes law, it will force North Carolinians to risk the immediate and long-term loss of their freedom, health, bodily autonomy, and economic security based on the broad discretion of law enforcement and prosecutors when protesting police and prosecutor violence against Black and Brown communities.
“As this bill returns to the House for concurrence, the ACLU of North Carolina urges state Representatives to show the same clear-eyed defense of First Amendment rights and the Black Lives Matter movement as we saw in the unanimous opposition from Senate Democrats.”