Archive for April 2014
Governor Hands Private Probation Companies a Rare Legislative Loss
Governor Deal has vetoed House Bill 837, legislation that would have limited disclosure about private probation companies from open records requests. The Peach Pundit provides exclusive coverage on the veto in an article describing all of yesterday’s vetoes and in a specific post addressing HB 837. Greg Bluestein has also covered the veto. Why is…
Read MoreNew ABA Guidelines on Monitoring Jurors Via Social Media
The American Bar Association has released a formal ethics opinion regarding how far attorneys may go in monitoring social media postings of jurors. Attorneys or their representatives may monitor any activity that is publicly available, but they may not “friend” a juror in an effort to monitor their private social media postings. Nor may attorneys…
Read MoreThe End of the Death Penalty / The Rise of Deaths in Prison
The Economist reports that executions are on the decline and that fewer Americans support the death penalty today than they did in 1994. In fact, most death penalty sentences are handed down in narrow areas of the country: Earlier this month a vote to repeal the death penalty narrowly failed in New Hampshire, but similar…
Read MoreUnintended Consequences of Georgia’s New “Guns Everywhere” Law
Governor Deal has signed into law the aptly-named “guns everywhere law” that increases the number of places in the State that guns will be allowed. Those places include churches (though the church must “opt in,” which may make for an exciting deacon/vestry meeting at a church near you), bars, schools, and even certain places within…
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