Marina dispute could affect coastal growth

Michael DeMell, environmental consultant to Cumberland Harbour development, stands on a newly constructed dock that comes off a deep water lot in St. Marys, Ga. The marina and housing development takes up part of a peninsula frequented by northern right whales. (Stephen Morton / AP file)

A legal fight over whether the law protecting Georgia marshlands can extend to residential developments on dry land is headed to the state Supreme Court, which could set a precedent imposing tougher standards on construction near salt marshes along Georgia's 100-mile coast.

The court will hear arguments Monday in a dispute between environmentalists and the developer of Cumberland Harbour, a 1,014-acre gated subdivision built on a peninsula surrounded by marsh in Camden County near the Georgia-Florida border.

The developer, the Land Resource Companies, was granted a state permit in 2005 to build two marinas and three community docks at Cumberland Harbour. They would make up the largest marina complex in Georgia with more than 17,500 linear feet of floating docks.

View Larger Map

Opponents have tied up the project in court ever since, arguing state regulators granted the marina permit without considering potential harm to the marsh from polluting stormwater runoff from the entire development - including homes built on the peninsula's uplands.

It will be the first time the state Supreme Court has considered whether development on land, rather than in the marsh itself, is covered by safeguards in the Coastal Marshlands Protection Act. The regulatory committee that issues permits says it lacks that authority under the law.

"It's a big deal because there's been a wholesale failure of government to protect the marsh other than to keep it from being filled in," said Gordon Rogers, the Satilla riverkeeper and one of the plaintiffs in the case. "The act is broader than how they're using it."

The 1970 state law was passed to protect Georgia's 378,000 acres of marshland, about a third of the total on the East Coast, from destruction. Salt marshes serve as wildlife habitat, help shield coastlines against flooding and erosion, and feed marine animals miles offshore with their decaying grasses.

The law requires a regulatory permit for any development "on or over marshlands." Attorneys for Land Resource, as well as Georgia's attorney general, say the only upland construction the law has been applied to are portions of marinas such as fuel tanks, storage buildings and parking lots.

"We are confident in the correctness of our legal argument that (the law) was not intended to and does not regulate the uplands residential development at Cumberland Harbour," said Patricia Barmeyer, an attorney for the developer.

Part of the area to be developed. (Courtesy Livesouth.com)

One of the law's authors, former state Rep. Reid W. Harris of St. Simons Island, also insists it would be a stretch to apply the marshlands act to homes on dry land. Harris, a retired lawyer, filed a brief with the Supreme Court saying the law wouldn't have passed had legislators feared it would restrict private property rights.

Stephen O'Day, an attorney working on the case with the Southern Environmental Law Center, argues the marinas are an integral piece of the overall Cumberland Harbour subdivision.

O'Day points to ponds on the property designed to collect stormwater runoff from all parts of the development - including the marinas. The ponds then filter out pollutants before piping the water back onto land. Some of that stormwater, O'Day says, will flow into the marsh. But how much comes from the marinas?

"You can't separate out the stormwater discharge from the marina and other stormwater discharge from the project," O'Day said. "It's all one stormwater system."

He also notes the Marshlands Protection Act gives state regulators power over any activity that would drain, fill in "or otherwise alter" Georgia marshlands. Because stormwater runoff can upset the delicate salinity balance of salt marshes, O'Day says, it should be considered an alteration.

Other Georgia developers and coastal landowners are watching the case.

The Sea Island Company, the Georgia-based owner and developer of coastal luxury resorts, says applying the marshlands act to upland development would be "grossly onerous and unfair" to property owners.

"The impact of this would be staggering," a Sea Island attorney wrote in a brief filed with the Supreme Court, saying the state would become "regulators of land-disturbing activities on hundreds of thousands if not millions of acres in Georgia's coastal region."

The Cumberland Harbour marina proposals stirred controversy not just because of their size, but also because of their location.

The marinas would launch hundreds of pleasure boats in waters within two miles of federally protected Cumberland Island. Endangered right whales migrate to those waters every winter to birth their calves. Researchers believe only 300 to 350 of the rare whales still exist, and collisions with ships and boats is their No. 1 killer.

An administrative law judge in 2006 sent the Cumberland Harbour marina permit back to state regulators, saying they hadn't properly assessed the threat to right whales and other protected species such as manatees and sea turtles. The judge also ruled regulators had to consider the impact of the "entire project" on the marsh, including upland homes.

Last year, the Georgia Court of Appeals unanimously reversed the lower court on the residential construction issue, saying that interpretation was too broad. One of the judges urged legislators to expand the scope of the law.

The Supreme Court's ruling won't be the final word on whether Cumberland Harbour can build its marinas. Regardless of the outcome, regulators will still have to settle issues related to protected species from the 2006 judicial ruling.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of statewide environmental issues.

(The Associated Press)

State's Top Judge to Teach, Practice Law

Earlier this year, Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears announced she'll step down from the state's highest court when her terms expires in June. Sears joined the Georgia Supreme Court in 1992. She was appointed to lead the court in the summer of 2005 and went on to create the Georgia Supreme Court Commission on Children, Marriage and Family Law. The nation's first African American female Chief Justice will return to practicing law when her current term expires. Sears will join the Atlanta law offices of Chicago-based Schiff Hardin sometime later this year. In the meantime, Sears will teach a seminar titled "Contemporary Issues in Family Law" at the University of Georgia law school, focused on changes in marriage and divorce, and exploring controversial family issues facing the legal system. Finally, in addition to practicing law and teaching, Sears will join the Institute for American Values to serve for one year as the William Thomas Sears Distinguished Fellow in Family Law. The fellowship is named in honor of the chief justice's older brother who died in November 2007 at the age of 53. Recently, Sears' name has come up as a possible replacement to retiring U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter.

Local groups take aim at Supreme Court gun ruling

Phenix City, Ala., resident Michael Knighton fires his Ruger pistol at an indoor firing range at Shooters Columbus gun shop in Columbus, Ga. The gun emits a flash of light as the bullet leaves the barrel. June 18th, 2008. (Dave Bender)

The United States Supreme Court this week ruled that Americans have the right to bear firearms for self-defense. In Georgia, groups for and against a recent ruling allowing guns in more places are stocking up on legal ammo.

Alice Johnson of Georgians For Gun Safety says she foresees challenges across America in the wake of the five-to-four ruling:

"The decision is going to lead to lots and lots and lots of litigation around the country related to local and state statutes that are in place now, and we're a little worried, I think, about what the outcome of some of that litigation will be."

And she says some of that litigation will likely be over House Bill 89, which goes into effect this coming Tuesday.

The Georgia law passed in the last legislature. It allows gun owners with a concealed carry permit to bring their weapons on public transit, to restaurants -- owner permitting -- and state parks:

"Perhaps the Supreme Court may be implying that House Bill 89 has some constitutional issues... you know, they said, 'sensitive places where firearms don't belong,' and they left that open, and that may, in fact mean that that guns on public; guns in restaurants that serve alcohol -- may be subject to some judicial scrutiny."

One supporter of the federal decision agrees with Johnson that lawsuits may soon be ricocheting through the courts -- but in the opposite direction.

Rifles on display at Shooters Columbus gun shop in Columbus, Ga., as a customer and salesman discuss the merits of various pistols in the background. June 18th, 2008. (Dave Bender)

Jon McMullen owns the Shooters gun shop in Columbus:

"If anything, it will expand or obviate the need for HB89, because as this Supreme Court ruling grows roots and we start to determine how it affects a variety of laws across the nation, there'll have to be a lot of laws that will have to be repealed, quite frankly, as being unconstitutional."

The State Senate will also be soon considering the ramifications of the rulings:

A panel meets later this summer to take a comprehensive look at Georgia's complex firearms laws and, and may suggest legislation for the 2009 session.

A spent bullet shell spirals upwards from the pistol of Columbus resident, Benjie Balen, at Shooter's indoor practice range, Columbus, Ga., June 18th, 2008. (Dave Bender)

In the meantime, law-enforcement officials are scrambling to train officers in the fine points of HB89, before it takes effect.

Columbus Police Chief Rickey Boren, commenting on the Georgia ruling at a recent gun-control debate, seemed to almost have seen the federal decision coming:

"In any law, there's a lot of gray area. And this law has not been tried in the courts, there has not been an arrest, it has not been appealed and there's not been an oversight of judges that have reviewed it and said whether it is a legal process or not."

But that could all change very soon, as state representatives, politicians and pressure groups across the country take sharp legal aim.

State

Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears, who joined the Supreme Court in 1992 and went on to create the Georgia Supreme Court Commission on Children, Marriage and Family Law, will return to practicing law when her current terms expires this summer.

Sears will join the Atlanta law offices of Chicago-based Schiff Hardin, sometime later this year.

In the meantime, Sears will teach a seminar titled “Contemporary Issues in Family Law” at the University of Georgia law school, focused on changes in marriage and divorce, and exploring controversial family issues facing the legal system.

Finally, in addition to practicing law and teaching, Sears will join the Institute for American Values to serve for one year as the William Thomas Sears Distinguished Fellow in Family Law.

The fellowship is named in honor of the chief justice’s older brother who died in November 2007 at the age of 53.

Voter I-D challenge thrown out

The Georgia Supreme Court on Monday threw out a challenge to the state's voter I-D law on a technicality. The state Supreme Court decided that the plantiff in the voter I-D case did not have the legal standing to challenge the law. So no decision was made on the validity of the photo I-D requirement.

The ruling does overturn a decision last September by a Fulton County Superior Court judge, that said the law requiring a picture I-D at the polls was unconstitutional and an undue burden on voters. After that ruling the state election board decided not to require photo I-D cards for the November elections.

The battle over Georgia's voter I-D law has been going on for over a year in state and federal court. Opponents claim the law will disenfranchise minorities, the poor, and the elderly who don't have a driver's license or other government-issued photo I-D.

The law's supporters, including Governor Sonny Perdue, say it is needed to prevent voter fraud. No examples of in-person voter fraud have been presented in any of the court challenges. But supporters say the potential exists.

Governor gets involved in flu shot flap

Georgians may find it harder and more expensive these days to get a flu shot through chain drug- and grocery stores. Flu vaccine shots may not be offered this year due to an uncovered Georgia law.

For over a decade, Georgia has had a law on the books that says flu vaccines need to be prescribed for distribution. NO one has really looked at it closely until this year, when a complaint came to the state medical board. Someone questioned whether it was enough for one physician to sign off on various pharmacies giving out flu shots. This practice is known as a ‘blanket protocol’. Dr. Jean Sumner is president of the Georgia Medical board.

"We are required to by law to investigate those complaints, and last year we received a complaint regarding the dispertion of flu shots by pharmacists. We interviewed the physician who had signed the protocol. We both acknowledged the law stated that was not legal. This has been a long-standing, established law that says the physician has to prescribe the flu shot. Therefore, he was citing protocols of some of the chain drugstores and elected not to do that anymore".

Without a protocol, drugstores and grocery stores without a practitioner or doctor could be violating Georgia law. Some have canceled their vaccine orders. Sumner says the Medical Board asked the Governor Perdue for help, but aside from a special session, nothing can be done until the next legislative session in January.

Governor Perdue issued a statement backing pharmacists, saying they should distribute flu shots just like they have in years past. The Governors' statement:

"This administration fully supports needed flu shots being safely dispensed to Georgians this flu season. For public health reasons, we believe it is imperative that pharmacists and others act as they have in the past. No statute or regulation has passed or was promulgated in the past 12 months that would change the ability of pharmacists to administer flu shots. No one has been prosecuted for delivering flu shots in the standard manner of past years. This administration will not call for sanctions against those acting in the best interests of Georgians and in a manner consistent with past practices. It is my expectation that healthcare professionals will act in the best interests of public health and continue prior practices."

Dr. Sumner says for the upcoming flu season, the change may simply be a change in venue. "Look around, get one from your doctor, get one from your health department, get one from the 'Minute Clinic'...from any provider that can prescribe. But you can't go to a clinic where there's not a provider or prescriber to issue the flu shot".
Click here for more GPB News coverage of medical issues.

State Election Board: Yes for voter I-D

Georgia should move ahead with the effort to require voters to show photo I-D's at the polls--that's the word from the state's election board. A vote of 3-to-1 Wednesday by the State Election Board said Georgia should put the requirement into effect "as soon as the law allows".

This vote comes only days after the Georgia Supreme Court threw out a challenge to the voter I-D law. The Secretary of State's office says the law would not be in effect for next Tuesday's special election in the 10th Congressional District. However, it could be used in the September local elections, unless another legal challenge is issued.

The battle over Georgia's voter I-D law has been ongoing for over a year in state and federal court. Opponents claim the law would disenfranchise minorities, the poor, and the elderly who don't have a driver's license or other government-issued I-D. The law's supporters, including Governor Sonny Perdue, say it's needed to prevent voter fraud.

Cagle remarks on state gun law

Lieutenant Governor Casey Cagle says he’s not for loosening the state’s gun law this year. Cagle signaled yesterday, he doesn’t want a repeat of last year’s heated gun battle that put Georgia in the cross-hairs of the National Rifle Association.

A state Senate study committee has been looking into expanding the gun law to allow Georgians to carry concealed weapons into churches and university campuses.

Last year, lawmakers approved a concealed carry law that stretched to state parks, restaurants serving alcohol and on public transit. The law spurred a legal battle at Hartsfield- Jackson Atlanta International Airport after gun rights advocates argued the airport qualified as public transportation.

PSC Votes To Delay Chairmanship Matter

Today the Public Service Commission decided not to fight the state Attorney General. He disagrees with them on their plan to change how their chairman is determined. But three of the five PSC members disagree with his recent legal opinion, so the matter remains alive.

Last week, Attorney general Thurbert Baker told the Public Service Commission it was violating Georgia law. The PSC wants to elect its chairman, instead of a going by a state-mandated yearly rotation. In addition, the Commission wants to lengthen the chairman’s term from one to two years.

One of the two PSC commissioners who voted against the change, along with Chuck Eaton, is Bobby Baker:

"I was hoping the Attorney General's opinion would have eliminated any ambibuity regarding the commissioners previous actions on May 5th, and that they would have taken his advice to heart and eliminate this problem."

But instead, a cloud of legal limbo remains. Today’s PSC meeting sparked some back-and-forth on the commission panel. Stan Wise disagrees with the attorney general’s opinion, and with fellow commissioner Baker:

"It’s still just an opinion. It's subject to put this Commission in position where we have to fight. Somebody has to challenge this decision...we don't just have to back it up, just because the attorney general makes an opinion."

The challenge involves the state Constitution. Wise, Lauren McDonald, and current commission chairman Doug Everett say it does give the PSC the right to elect its own chair. But a statute was put in-place in 1992 by lawmakers mandating the current system. A bill to remove the provision this year died in the General Assembly’s final hours.

Everett says he and the other two want the change for continuity-sake:

"We are the only agency that changes a chairman every year, a lot of times in mid-stream of a very important project. That's the reason we were trying to do what we did."

But watchdog groups worry if the Commission gets to elect its own chairman, consumer-friendly PSC members may never get the top job.

The PSC decided not to push for legal action now. Instead, the three commission members pushing for change only tabled the matter until next January. That’s when they hope lawmakers will remove the block of a state law.

Dalton's residents bewildered over bombing

Firefighters in Dalton facing smoke and flames from building destroyed in Friday's bombing. (Courtesy)

Barbara Russell's voice almost drops to a whisper as she tries to describe the deadly blast that interrupted her breakfast the other day.

"It was the loudest noise I've ever heard," she says, shaking her head. "You really can't believe it. It really hasn't sunk in "We're all trying to figure this out," says Steve Williams, a senior partner at the firm that was bombed. "It will be a long time before folks come to grips with this. We're just a little town in the Deep South."

The same sentiment kept coming up Sunday at the first town gathering since 78-year-old Lloyd Cantrell died when he bombed a law office that represented his son in a bitter family land dispute. The Friday morning blast killed Cantrell and injured four others at the law firm — and left residents struggling to reconcile how it could happen in their blue-collar town of 30,000.

Cantrell, easily recognized around town clad in bib overalls with a small Chihuahua in his arms, had been embroiled in a dispute with his son, Bruce, since 2006.

Bruce Cantrell had grown fearful of the father and hired a lawyer at McCamy, Phillips, Tuggle & Fordham, to file a lawsuit to keep his dad off the property. The 2006 complaint claimed the elder man stole tools, kicked in a door and threatened to kill himself. Cantrell had given the property to his son.

The Associated Press has been unable to reach Bruce Cantrell for comment.

On Friday, police were called to a disturbance at the firm, housed in a two-story, colonial-style home. An officer saw a man get out of a sport utility vehicle and run behind the building. Seconds later, an explosion tore into the office.

Four were injured, including attorney Jim Phillips, who was described as a longtime friend of Cantrell. Phillips is hospitalized with burns to one-third of his body. He was in critical condition Saturday, and officials didn't immediately return a call Sunday seeking comment on his condition.

Meanwhile, many residents shared a common realization: they simply haven't registered what happened yet.

"Nobody here in this room, nobody in this city was at fault," said Dalton City Police Chief Jason Parker. "I think we accept that. It's time for us as a city, as a community to band together."

The law firm, which has helped produce a generation of local judges and community leaders, was one of the town's "oldest and most important law firms," says Dalton Mayor David Pennington. The city has offered the firm temporary space at city hall, and the firm's lawyers say they're confident they will soon rebuild.

"I will not be run off," says Williams, the firm's partner. "I'm here for the duration." Williams and other residents quietly gathered at Dalton City Hall, talking in hushed tones about what happened — and what could have happened.

"Everybody is just sort of shocked," said Beth Campbell, a local bookkeeper dressed in her Sunday best who showed up at the meeting for some clarity after her pastor announced it at church. "In about two hours time we heard so many stories. You heard so many different things and I still haven't heard what happened."

Kermit McManus, Dalton's district attorney, predicts it could take years for the town to realize the enormity of the attack. He's clearly shaken by the blast, which he called "an attack on the judicial system."

"He was going to blow the whole building up as a result of this legal dispute," he says, shaking his head.

McManus works in a sparkling new county courthouse that fronts a large window. But if he had to build it again, he says, he'd feel safer if his office was built behind thick walls instead of glass.

"It's more devastating than we know," he says."I think it will change the way people think and it's going to change the way people do business."

His voice trails off.

"We don't think in those terms," he says. "Now we will."

Click here for more GPB News coverage of the Dalton bombing.

Baker Opines PSC Violated Law

Georgia's top attorney has ruled that the Public Service Commission had no authority to defy a 16-year-old state law when it voted to extend the tenure of its chairman. Since 1992, the PSC chair has served for one year. Recently, however, the PSC voted to increase the chair's tenure from one to two years.

Commissioner Bobby Baker was one of two who voted against extending the tenure. The other was Commissioner Chuck Eaton. Both are seen as strong consumer advocates.

"I had advised the commissioners from the very beginning that we couldn't ignore the law and the PSC wasn't empowered to take unilateral action to ignore the law and change. I'm hoping that everybody will sit down and review the attorney general's opinion and do the right thing," says Baker.

The man next in line to lead the PSC is Commissioner Stan Wise of Marietta. Wise responded to the AG's opinion saying …

"It's just that. It's an opinion. And so, if Chairman Everett steps down and I assume the chairmanship on July 1st, it remains to be seen if somebody can and will challenge this commission if I continue past January 1st."

A legislative attempt earlier this year to extend the one year tenure made it out of the state House of Representatives but died on the floor of the Senate. Current PSC Chair Doug Everett is scheduled to step down June 30. Under the new rules, Everett will serve another year, absent a legal challenge.

Dust-up over coal-fired power plant

Environmental groups opened a legal challenge in Atlanta today to halt the construction of a new coal-fired power plant in southwest Georgia.

A coalition of activists are challenging a Georgia Environmental Division permit for the 1,200-megawatt facility in Early County, on the banks of the Chattahoochee River. The appeal, submitted by the Sierra Club and residents of Early County opposing the plant, temporarily stays the permit.

The groups claim the permit violates the Georgia Air Quality act and the federal Clean Air act.

“If this coal plant is built, we will have to breathe in even more pollution that is swept in by the winds from south Georgia.” said Justine Thompson of the Center for Law in the Public Interest.

“We have enough pollution in Georgia, and truth be told – we have enough power,” Thompson told reporters at the capitol.

“Dynegy will sell its power to other states, so Georgia will not get most of the power, Georgia will not get the profits – but Georgia will get the pollution,” she said.

Dynegy Inc., a Houston-based energy company, is planning and building the plant together with New Jersey-based LS Power.

The appeal outlines 17 legal reasons which the permit should be denied. It now goes to an administrative law judge.

(Susanna Capelouto)

Voter ID Testimony Ends

Today was the last day for testimony in Federal Court in Rome, to determine if making a photo ID a mandatory form ID at the polls is legal.

During closing arguments Attorneys for the state said that there is no way to measure in-person voter fraud and the photo id requirement will do so. But Ed Hines, a lawyer for the plaintiff, says a photo requirement could deter voters from going to the polls.

"Elections are sometimes won by tiny margins. Numbers matter; every vote counts," said Hines.

The plaintiffs, which include common cause and the NAACP, said in their closing argument that the state had not shown any proof that photo ID’s will help prevent voting fraud and that the law targets elderly African Americans.

Secretary of state, Karen Handel, says that this is the best way to get some numbers on voter fraud and that she has done and will do much more to educate voters on this new law if Judge Harold Murphy finds is legal. He's expected to rule within the next 2 weeks.

Photo voter ID legal says judge

Federal Judge Harold Murphy ruled today that Georgia's Photo ID requirement for voting is legal. He dismissed a lawsuit saying the plaintiff's did not prove that the law is a burden to the public. He said in his 100 page ruling that the public's interest would be served if voter fraud can be prevented.

The lawsuit was brought by various groups including the NAACP, the League of Women voters and Common Cause. They had argued that the law requiring one of 5 government issued photo ID's at the polls would keep minorities and the elderly from voting.

Secretary of state Karen Handel is expected to make a statement, soon.

Early voting begins tomorrow in 22 counties that will hold elections September 18th.

Legislative Day 39 … from the Senate

GUNS ON MARTA, AT YOUR LOCAL EATERY

In a late night flurry Wednesday, lawmakers in the senate approved a gun control bill after a lengthy and sometimes heated debate over gun control. HB 257 had been tabled earlier in the day after Democrats failed to attach an amendment that would have required local university to establish emergency procedures, in order to avoid another Virginia Tech-like situation, where a lone gunman killed several students and faculty. The measure passed in the Senate expands where licensed gun owners with a conceal weapons permit, may carry their guns. In the end, any gun owner licensed to carry a concealed weapon may take their gun into any publicly owned and operated facility like, metro-Atlanta’s MARTA system. The measure also allows those with conceal carry permits to take their guns into restaurants which serve alcohol, as long as gun owner don’t drink. However, some lawmakers questioned whether restaurants can exert such control. The National Rifle Association along with Georgia’s gun enthusiasts have long been trying to loosen the state’s gun laws. Those efforts were rewarded when the House passed a similar measure earlier in the session. However, one group opposed to the bill expressed disappointment, saying lawmakers have ignored the concerns of everyday Georgians. Alice Johnson is with Georgians for Gun Safety. “And so instead, they will make policy … at least in this chamber … they’ll make policy on firearms and community by listening to the folks who are the most adamant and scary.” The bill passed in the Senate 37 to 17. It now goes back to the House for consideration on the Senate floor amendments.

IS THERE TIME FOR TAX REFORM?

House lawmakers expressed frustration with the Senate today after the Lieutenant Governor shot down the House's efforts to compromise on tax reform. The State House was willing to give the Senate income tax reform, if the Senate would give them a cut on car taxes. But Lt. Gov Casey Cagle (R.) blocked the measure before the Senate could even vote on it. That angered House Majority Leader Jerry Keene (R.) Keene said in the end, both chambers will have to own up to Georgia Voters.

"When we finish, they don't know if it was this person's bill or that person's bill, its just what we got done. It doesn't make anyone look good - it makes all of us, as Republicans, look like we can't get our job done," said Keen.

Keen says the time for tax reform in Georgia is running out as Friday is the only day left in the session.

PARTIAL LIST OF SENATE STUDY COMMITTEES/COMMISSIONS CREATED DURING THIS 2008 LEGISLATIVE SESSION:

• Sexual Exploitation of Minors
  
• Georgia MethCheck Data Base
  
• Daylight Saving(s) Time
  
• Fleeing and Law Enforcement Pursuits
• Biodiesel Fuel Study Committee
• Victim’s Rights Study Committee
• Children’s Mental Health in Georgia
  
• Prior Approval and Prescription Drugs
  
• Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Addictive Disease Services

DEMOCRATIC PROCESS THWARTED?
In the past few days, the state Senate has voted to “engross” nearly two dozen bills, all related in some way to sales and use tax. Usually, a lawmaker will vote to engross a block of bills, rather than one by one. Engrossing a bill prevents debate from the floor on the measure. Democrat David Adelman from Decauter took the podium to say, preventing debate lessens the democratic process. “Whether we vote one time today, or whether we vote the half dozen or more times as we did yesterday. There are 56 Senators in this Chamber and each should be given an opportunity to improve the legislation, especially during these very critical last few days." Eighteen other Senators joined Adelman opposing engrossing the sale tax bills, nearly all Democrats.

SENATE URGES WITHDRAWAL FROM INT'L PARTNERSHIP
The state Senate today voted to urge President George W. Bush to retreat from a multilateral economic pact with Mexico and Canada. Already a handful of states have written the President urging immediate withdrawal from the 2005 Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, designed to promote free trade between the three nations. It’s modeled on the European Union, formed in 1993, encompassing 27 nations. State Senator Nancy Schaefer says such an alignment with our national neighbors to the north and south will likely result in a loss of American identity. The Republican is running for the U-S Congressional seat once held by the late Charlie Norwood. “It’s not about prosperity, it’s about the loss of the United States’ sovereignty, the loss of our independence and our way of life. To end 332 years of sovereignty, including our God given principles handed down to us by our founding fathers would be tragic.” The resolution passed in the Senate by a vote 29 to 19.

WILLIE OTIS “PETE” WILLIAMS
The Senate today voted to pay Willie ‘Pete’ Williams 1.2 million dollars, after DNA evidence proved Williams not guilty of a 1985 rape. A similar measure has already passed in the House of Representatives. Williams was 23 years old in 1985 when he was sentenced to 45 years in prison. Mistaken eyewitness identification sealed Williams' fate. And, although offered early parole, Williams refused to plead guilty to the crimes. In January 2007, the Georgia Innocence Project used DNA evidence to exonerate Williams. Another man, already in jail for rape, was tried and convicted for the same crime that sent Williams to jail. Since 2005, five men have been exonerated and released from Georgia's prison as a result of DNA evidence. The bill now goes to Governor Sonny Perdue for his signature.

SO-CALLED "ANTI-IMMIGRANT" MEASURE TABLED
Senator John Wiles (R-Marietta) was forced to table a bill some have called anti-Latino because it would have given police the power to seize cars from illegal immigrants, stopped by any law enforcement official. The bill would have also allow police to impound the cars of anyone caught driving without a license, illegal or not. Wiles withdrew his bill after fellow Republicans questioned whether or not the law would catch legal Georgians, innocent of intentionally breaking the law. For example, a farmer driving his tractor who may not have his license with him when stopped, or a child forced to drive her parent to the hospital in an emergency. Opponents of the bill say it unfairly targets Spanish speaking individuals.

SENATE APPROVES CHARTER SCHOOL COMMISSION
Today, the state Senate approved the creation of a seven-member charter school commission. The commission’s job … reconsider applications from charter schools, that have already been rejected by local school boards. Republicans say charter schools are a necessary alternative to students in low performing school districts. However, Democrats say the measure reduces the power of both local school boards, and that of the state board of education. Democrat Vincent Fort represents parts of Atlanta. He calls the multi-layered review process unnecessary and opposes the bill. “It is an issue of yes, local control. Aren’t your local boards of education maintained and retained, the responsibility, the duty, the constitutional charge for their school systems? That is the question here that we face. What in effect is happening is, the local system’s decision is advisory. The local boards of education that are elected by the people are reduced to making advisory recommendations to a state commission.” Local officials have continually opposed the measure because it takes state money away from their schools, although the schools will retain any federal and local monies. The measure passed in the Senate by a vote of 29 to 18. It now heads back to the House for consideration because of differences with a similar version passed there.

Law changed over James Brown case

Illinois lawmakers have changed a rape law as a result of a failed lawsuit against Georgia native soul singer James Brown. The law signed today suspends the statute of limitations when the victim has been intimidated or manipulated into staying quiet. Currently, a person accusing someone of rape has just two years to sue in Illinois. The shift is a response to a legal defeat for late Illinois resident Jacque Hollander. Her rape suit against Brown in 2005 was tossed by the court because the alleged gunpoint rape allegedly happened in 1988.

Panel Upholds Airport Gun Ban

A federal appeals court has upheld a judge's decision to toss a lawsuit seeking to allow licensed gun owners to carry weapons in parts of the world's busiest airport. That judge had dismissed the lawsuit last year on grounds that the gun rights organization GeorgiaCarry.org failed to prove that a new Georgia law would allow weapons into unsecured areas of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. A three-judge panel found an appeal of that ruling was "meritless." The legal feud erupted when a new state law took effect in July that allows people with gun permits to carry guns into restaurants and state parks and on public transportation. Atlanta officials quickly declared the airport a "gun-free zone" and warned that anyone carrying a gun there would be arrested. GeorgiaCarry.org sued the city and the airport, claiming the airport qualifies as public transportation under the new state law.


(Associated Press)

Governor signs asbestos lawsuit legislation

New legislation signed into law by Governor Sonny Perdue today is meant to give those suffering most from asbestos-related health problems, priority in their lawsuits. Trial lawyers handling those cases say it doesn’t go far enough.

This legislation is a re-working of one passed in the General Assembly two years ago. However, aspects of that law were rejected by the Georgia Supreme Court. The bill's sponsor, Senator John Wiles of Marietta, said this version was a compromise with trail lawyers and the industry to ensure those plantiffs who prove impairment from asbestos, go to the front of the legal-line.

Clint Sitton is a lawyer who has handled asbestos cases for 22 years and spoke to the Senate Judiciary Committee on the bill. He called this legislation the most convoluted he’s ever seen. He said the law should have simple medical criteria that can be followed to process cases. Sitton says instead, "the bill goes through machinations where, depending on the date a case arises, or cause of action arises, a different set of circumstances will apply. For that reason, I don’t think its going to pass constitutional muster”

Sitton expects the state Supreme Court again to step-in, with the process eventually going back to square-one.

Atlanta group gets grant to help detainees

Catholic Charities of Atlanta has received a $175,000 contract to provide legal help to Latin American citizens held at a detention center in Stewart County. The Vera Institute of Justice and the Executive Office for Immigration Review approved the contract for a legal orientation program at the privately run Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center. The center houses 1,800 Latin American immigrants. Some of the detainees have criminal records while others were picked up in employment raids around the country. The new contract will allow Catholic Charities to put a full-time attorney, a part-time law student and a part-time clerk at the facility to provide legal help and referrals for detainees.

(The Associated Press)

Ga. Dems challenge voter ID law

Georgia’s Democratic Party on Friday filed suit against a 2006 state law upholding the constitutionality of photo voter ID's.

The move comes despite a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling approving photo ID's at Indiana voting stations.

State Republicans and Democrats are sharply divided on the issue: Democrats charge that requiring photo ID to cast a ballot disenfranchises the poor and minorities. Republicans, however, contend that such ID's are a useful tool for fighting voter fraud.

Party spokesman Martin Matheny says the Indiana case is different enough and it allows parties to sue over the issue:

"What makes it happen is the decision in the Indiana case. 'Let's us get up there and have a serious legal discussion.''

Matheny says the State constitution says nothing about photo ID’s for voting.

However, according to Matt Caruthers, a spokesperson for Secretary of State Karen Handel:

"This is an absurd and frivolous lawsuit. The issue has been decided at the Supreme Court district court and Georgia Supreme Court. And defending it will amount in a huge waste of Georgia taxpayer money. "

The suit, filed at the Fulton county superior court asks for an injunction of the law for the July 15 primary.

Click here for more GPB News coverage of this issue.