Citizen’s Arrest
By
John C Abercrombie
We often have laughed when one of the characters on the Andy Griffith show called “Citizen’s Arrest” and in that situation it was funny, but in reality, it is not so funny. This post is focused on the State of Georgia and the recent killing of a young man during an incident of “citizen’s arrest.”
Georgia formally codified the law in 1861. Written by Thomas Cobb a lawyer and slave holder. In that original code African Americans were assumed to be enslaved unless they could prove they were free. This in a country where people (White) are assumed to be innocent unless proven guilty. This reversal of prime principals of law is frequent when it comes to race in America. These Citizen’s Arrest statues first entered into Georgia law in 1863 during the American Civil War. Prior to this, there were laws on the federal books that forced even people who did not believe in slavery to help capture any person whom a White person suspected of being a runaway slave. This is the basis of the movie “12 years a slave” where Solomon Northup was falsely condemned to slavery on the suspicion of a White person although he was free.
The author of the Citizen’s Arrest legislation was Thomas Cobb, author of “An Inquire into the Law of Negro Slavery in the United States of America, published in 1858. Cobb argued “This inquiry into the physical, mental and moral development of the Negro race seems to point them clearly, as peculiarly fitted for a laborious class. The physical frame is capable of great and long-continued exertion. Their mental capacity renders them incapable of successful self-development, and yet adapts them for the direction of the wiser race. Their moral character renders them happy, peaceful, contented and cheerful in a status that would break the spirit and destroy the energies of the Caucasian or the native American.” This skewed view of people represented Cobb’s views on race and slavery that shaped the Georgia law.
The Code Law Code of Georgia was heavily revised after the 1865 passage of the Thirteenth Amendment ended slavery in the United States and has been revised and reenacted a number of times during the last 150 plus years. However, the Civil War era citizen’s arrest provision remains.
When the Citizen’s Arrest law was added to the code of law, Georgia was in a state of flux. Georgia’s Confederate soldiers were stationed in Virginia, enslaved Africans were running away to join Union forces. Confederate deserters were hiding in hard to reach places in the Appalachian counties, and in the swamps of the South. The law empowered White citizens to have arrest powers to control the Black population.
After the Civil War, the concept of citizen’s arrest has been overwhelmingly supported by the Ku Klux Klan and the resulting violence against Blacks. There were over 300 reported cases of the Ku Klux Klan murdering or attempting to murder over 300 Blacks. The Fulton County Lynching Project lists 589 documented Lynchings between 1877 and 1950.
The history of Lynchings of Black men and woman in Georgia documents White mobs making gruesome attacks on Blacks and long enduring. Examples include 3 black men and a Black woman for attacking a White planter accused of sexually abusing black Girls and Women. Notice the distinction between girls and women. In another case 2 Black couples were dragged from their car and shot about 60 times by a White mob making a “citizen’s arrest.” As in almost all cases, no one ha ever been even charged with the murder of these Black people.
When Ahmaud Arbery was shot and killed by shotgun blasts February 23, 2020, supposedly because Arbery fit the description they believed belonged to a person they claimed was stealing they were not even charged until a national uproar over the killing 3 months later. This tolerance for people is not shown by these vigilantes or those sworn to enforce the law, giving tacit approval of such conduct. This is not acceptable and should not be tolerated by anyone who believes in the law.
To their credit, Georgia has repealed the law, but it remains in some form in 49 states.
*Update November 25, 2021 The verdict in the Ahmaud Arbery case is in. All 3 defendants have been found guilty.
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What Is Citizen’s Arrest & Is It Really Legal?
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Here’s what Georgia law says about citizen’s arrest
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The citizen’s arrest law cited in Ahmaud Arbery’s death was created to control the Black population
Ahmaud Arbery’s death was one of multiple flash points this year that’s made people question whether or not the foundation of America’s justice system is equality or racism. Georgia’s citizen’s arrest law has historically been used to reinforce the racial hierarchy they were created to uphold by providing cover for whites who were oppressing blacks. They were written in 1861 by Thomas Cobb, a lawyer, slave owner, Confederate Congressman, and co-founder of University of Georgia’s law school who wrote the book of record on why Black people should be enslaved. Host, Nicole Ellis speaks with historians and lawmakers about legal codes written by the Confederate Congress of Georgia.
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Citizen’s Arrest – How Is This Still a Law? |
The Daily Social Distancing Show Ahmaud Arbery’s killers evaded arrest for way too long because of a law created in the era of slavery. Roy Wood Jr. investigates the citizen’s arrest policy and what’s being done to stop it.
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We see in the case of Citizen’s Arrest a law written with the intent of controlling Black people. The study of the effects of such laws is an advanced topic in law and is the true meaning of Critical Race Theory, not every instance of exclusion of fact from the history we were taught in school.