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Under Article Six, Section Three of the United States Constitution, “no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.” The Religious Tests Clause made good sense when it was passed. The Framers had in mind various Test Acts that were a part of British…

I meant to write a post on this topic at the end of the legislative session. Very late in the game, the Georgia General Assembly radically changed Georgia’s Judicial Qualifications Commission, the ethics watchdog agency for Georgia judges. Shortly after these changes were made, the head of the JQC very publicly resigned. I have mixed…

Last week, I was able to help a young man stay in the country rather than be deported to a land where he has few ties. The young man is officially a citizen of a foreign country. But he is practically an American, having grown up in Georgia and with all of his family here. Several months ago, he…

Rapper, YoGotti, recently released a video shot in a Henry County, Georgia, courtroom and throughout the courthouse. Henry County government officials are not amused. An official is on the record saying that the video, featuring a small claims lawsuit involving a hair weave that went up in flames, does not accurately represent “Henry County values.”…

I’m all for democracy, but election season is not fun for lawyers. This year, unlike any other, I  have been spammed by lawyers running for office: whom I do not know and don’t think I’ve ever met; In counties where I seldom practice; and who delivered a prepared telemarketer-style speech when they get me on…

Before this week, I had never heard of the All Writs Act of 1789. As I understand from the news accounts I have read this week, a Federal Magistrate cites it as authority to order Apple to develop software that law enforcement can then use to break into an iPhone. For anyone who’s ever dealt…

Over at Simple Justice, Scott Greenfield has a post about the future of Twitter (with a scatalogical title). In summary, the problem with Twitter and several other “tools” is that, while it has attracted many eyeballs, it is difficult to turn those eyeballs into money. I can’t speak to the broader economic trends. I can…

I’ve obsessively read as much as I could find over the weekend about the upcoming confirmation battle to replace the late Justice Scalia. And there is much to read. Saturday’s news and what unfolds over the next weeks will be the subject of many books, if not movies, to come. Scott Greenfield focuses on two…

Recently, I heard the Executive Director of the State Bar of Georgia mention that his job included running a parking lot. One of the benefits to membership in the State Bar of Georgia is use of free parking near Phillips Arena and the Georgia Dome (and soon to be the new home to the Falcons).…

We’re away for the weekend. And I happened to look up and see the news on television at a restaurant. And it still does not quite seem real. When I was a law student, Scalia opinions were the first ones I remember reading and enjoying. I won’t say that I agreed with them all. But they…