Senate Candidate Loeffler Attacks Collins for Work as a Defense Attorney

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In a recent ad, incumber Senator Kelly Loeffler has attacked challenger Doug Collins for purportedly being a criminal defense attorney, having a website that advertised for clients, and for accepting appointed cases. Her campaign website posted a list of Georgia sheriffs who condemned Collins for his “criminal defense history.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dh9whAOo7cI&feature=youtu.be Sen. Loeffler presumably had the…

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Toward the Post-Monument Era

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If you have practiced law for any time in Georgia, you have walked by Confederate monuments. The smaller and more remote the jurisdiction, the greater the likelihood that you walked beneath the shadow of a Confederate soldier, general, or political figure on your walk to court. Recently, the county commission in Henry County, Georgia, voted…

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Qualified Immunity: The Ultimate Product of Judicial Activism

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Congress will soon take up multiple bills to pull back the doctrine of Qualified Immunity. In the House, a bill has been introduced that would roll back Qualified Immunity as it relates to law enforcement and corrections officers. In the Senate, a bill is pending that would roll back qualified immunity as applied to an…

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It’s Okay to Turn off the News

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Before all the CoVid-19 stuff, I read the news exactly once per week. I experienced the entire Trump impeachment episode in weekly installments at brunch. I allowed myself the Sunday New York Times and the Sunday Atlanta Journal. Also, I did not allow myself to click on any “news” shared over social media. My only…

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It’s a Gray Day in Georgia for Motions to Modify Sentence

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There is an important new case that changes the law concerning motions to modify sentence in Georgia. In Gray v. State, a case published on August 26, 2019, the Court of Appeals held that trial courts lose jurisdiction, under O.C.G.A. Section 17-10-1(f), to modify criminal sentences following either 120 days after the remittitur where there…

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The Era of Attacking the Referee

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It’s not an easy gig to be a ref. And it gets harder every day. That is the thesis of “Ref, You Suck!” an episode in Michael Lewis’s new podcast series, Against the Rules. The episode explores a set of dilemmas, summarized in a perfect tagline courtesy of Lewis’s child: “Don’t pick sides, unless it’s…

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Roundup and Update on a Recent Amicus Success

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I’ll write more on this case later, but I wanted to provide a quick update on a recent case. This week, the Supreme Court of Georgia held that the State cannot use against defendants in DUI trials evidence of their refusal to take a chemical test. While the United States Supreme Court has held otherwise,…

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The Law School Admissions Game

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The weekend edition of USA Today leads with a story on the sanctions law schools are facing based upon poor bar passage rates. The ABA will convene a conference to require accredited schools to ensure that at least 75% of graduates pass the bar within two years. Right now 75% of student must pass the…

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