The defense bar and apartment industry are breathing a sigh of relief after the Georgia Supreme Court unanimously overturned lower court rulings greenlighting the use of the state’s anti-gang statute to level claims for triple damages in premises liability lawsuits against landlords based on criminal acts that occurred on their property.

The opinion, penned by Chief Justice Harold Melton for a unanimous court, dismantled plaintiff’s arguments that a 1998 amendment to the Georgia Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act, which allows crime victims to seek treble and punitive damages for injuries they suffer from gang-related violence, applies to third-party property owners who are not themselves accused of any criminal activity. 

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