The Nathan Deal Judicial Center in downtown Atlanta houses the Georgia Supreme Court. (Photo by Beau Evans)
ATLANTA – The Georgia Supreme Court will resume conducting oral arguments in person beginning June 9, Chief Justice Harold Melton announced Wednesday.
The high court has been holding oral arguments via Zoom since Melton first declared a statewide judicial emergency in March of last year, as the coronavirus pandemic forced a shutdown of live court proceedings.
“Although the statewide judicial emergency remains in place, this is yet another step in our court system’s return to robust court operations,” Melton said.
Public health protocols will be in place for the in-person proceedings. The nine justices, who all have been fully vaccinated, will wear masks throughout the session, as will all other persons in the courtroom, although attorneys arguing before the court may remove their masks at the podium if they so choose.
Although the courtroom gallery inside the Nathan Deal Judicial Center normally accommodates 154 people, with social distancing, the number will be limited to 34, including members of the public, co-counsel, parties, and media representatives.
All will be expected to wear masks over their noses and mouths and maintain social distancing as indicated in posted signs.
All in-person and remote oral argument sessions are broadcast live on the court’s website at www.gasupreme.us.
The in-person oral argument health protocols will be reassessed in time for hearings set for Aug. 24-26.
Once it is safe to have more people in the courtroom, the court will resume ceremonies at the beginning of oral argument sessions in which attorneys are formally sworn into the Supreme Court bar.
The court also will consider requests for remote arguments conducted by Zoom and may schedule some remote arguments each month.
Parties will be required to confer before filing a request for remote oral argument, and the request must indicate if there is good cause for the request or if remote argument is merely preferred.
The list of candidates looking to unseat top Georgia incumbents is growing early ahead of the 2022 election cycle. (Photo by Beau Evans)
More candidates threw their hats in the ring Tuesday to run for top offices in Georgia’s 2022 elections including secretary of state and a suburban Atlanta congressional district.
State Rep. Bee Nguyen, D-Atlanta, launched her campaign against Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, adding to a growing lineup of Democrats vying to flip statewide seats following historic wins in Georgia’s presidential and U.S. Senate races during the 2020 cycle.
Republican Eric Welsh, a retired U.S. Army colonel and former Coca-Cola executive, also announced Tuesday he will compete for U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath’s 6th Congressional District seat, which she flipped to the Democrats in 2018 amid changing voter demographics in Atlanta’s suburbs.
The roster of candidates from both parties has been building in recent weeks for campaigns to unseat incumbent Republicans in statewide offices across the board including governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, labor and insurance.
Nguyen is among the first Democratic candidates to kick off a challenge against Raffensperger, who has already drawn Republican primary competition from U.S. Rep. Jody Hice of Greensboro and former Alpharetta Mayor David Belle Isle.
Welsh will look to run a more formidable campaign against McBath for the suburban congressional seat north of Atlanta, after former Republican U.S. Rep. Karen Handel lost the seat to Democrat McBath in 2018 and fell short of recapturing it last year.
McBath’s seat is one of two Democrats have flipped in recent years that Republicans are aiming to win back to regain control of the U.S. House of Representatives. Republican emergency-room doctor Rich McCormick is already raising money for a rematch against Democratic U.S. Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux in the 7th Congressional District northeast of Atlanta.
Gov. Brian Kemp, who is running for a second term in the governor’s office, has drawn Republican challengers in former Dekalb County CEO and state Rep. Vernon Jones, a Democrat turned Republican, and Appling County educator Kandiss Taylor.
Should he win the primary, Kemp is expected to face a possible rematch with 2018 Democratic gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams. Abrams has not yet announced whether she will run in 2022.
Several Republican candidates have also kicked off campaigns against Democratic U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, who won a runoff in January alongside U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff to hand Democrats control of Congress.
Other high-profile Republicans who may be weighing campaigns against Warnock include U.S. Rep. Drew Ferguson of West Point and former University of Georgia football star Herschel Walker, whom former President Donald Trump urged to run in March.
Further down the ballot, Republican Attorney General Chris Carr is set to square off against either Democratic state Sen. Jen Jordan, an Atlanta attorney who launched her campaign last month, or Atlanta attorney and former prosecutor Charlie Bailey.
Democratic state Reps. Erick Allen of Smyrna and Derrick Jackson of Tyrone are both running to win Republican Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan’s seat. Duncan’s office has signaled he may not seek reelection.
State Sen. Lester Jackson of Savannah and state Rep. William Boddie of East Point, both Democrats, are running against Republican Labor Commissioner Mark Butler. Democratic state Rep. Matthew Wilson of Brookhaven has challenged Republican Insurance Commissioner John King.
Gov. Brian Kemp signed six bills aimed at spurring business investment during a ceremony May 4 at the Cobb Chamber of Commerce. Photo credit: Thomas Hartwell, Marietta Daily Journal
SMYRNA – Gov. Brian Kemp signed a half dozen bills Tuesday aimed at spurring business investment in Georgia.
A bill signing ceremony at the Cobb Chamber of Commerce was highlighted by Kemp putting his name to legislation providing tax breaks to several key industries.
Senate Bill 6 includes tax credits for medical equipment and pharmaceutical manufacturers, aerospace defense projects performing arts venues, short-line railroads and developers of corporate “mega-sites.”
Kemp also signed bills aimed at streamlining the approval process for building projects, changing the definition of a small business and creating the criminal offense of organized retail theft to aid in prosecutions.
“These bills cut red tape, lower the tax burden on businesses, promote small business development and crack down on crimes that target Georgia businesses,” Kemp said.
The governor told political and business leaders Georgia has helped lead the nation’s economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic through his “measured reopening” of businesses while other states were shutting down economic activity entirely. He said his decision to protect livelihoods as well as lives sometimes drew criticism from the national media.
“It was not always popular to make these decisions, but it was important,” Kemp said. “Despite the headwinds of the pandemic, we continue to maintain our designation as the No.-1 place to do business.”
Kemp lifted virtually all COVID-19 restrictions on businesses in an executive order that took effect last Saturday.
The governor’s order eliminated all distancing requirements for bars and restaurants and mask requirements for workers. He also lifted all restrictions covering gyms and fitness centers, movie theaters, body art studios, hairstylists and massage therapists.
Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law Tuesday a package of education bills to give veterans an easier path to becoming teachers and allow private groups to donate grant funds to struggling public schools in Georgia.
The six-bill package also aims to boost teacher training at historically black colleges and universities, increase the share of state funding for charter schools, bolster mentorships for new teachers and allow schools to use vehicles other than school buses for student transportation.
The measures mark the latest moves by Kemp and backers in the General Assembly to show more support for Georgia teachers following passage of a new income-tax credit program to attract retired educators back to classrooms and a string of teacher pay raises approved in recent years.
“Today sends a message that brighter, more prosperous days start with putting our students and educators first,” Kemp said at a bill-signing ceremony at Kennesaw State University.
One measure sets up a teacher-training certification program for active or honorably discharged veterans who have earned bachelor’s degrees, met certain grade-point-average standards and passed a state educator ethics test.
The bill also allows Georgia’s teacher of the year to serve as an advisor to the state Board of Education, assigns mentors to help coach teachers with three years or less on the job who have low performance ratings, and creates training programs in alternative education and at historically black colleges and universities.
Two measures focus on Georgia charter schools by allowing local charter schools to take a larger share of the roughly $11 billion in state funds allocated for public schools annually and creating so-called “alternative charter schools” that focus on students with poor grades or at risk of dropping out.
Other bills create a nonprofit outlet for private groups and taxpayers to make donations to struggling schools, allow schools to contract with companies for energy-efficient installations and let schools use vehicles that are not school buses for transporting students in underserved areas.
Those measures follow separate legislation Kemp signed last month allowing teachers in 100 rural or low-performing schools picked annually by the state to apply for a $3,000 credit on their income taxes for up to five years if they teach certain subjects that students are struggling to learn.
The bills signed Tuesday were sponsored by Republican Sens. Russ Goodman of Cogdell, John Albers of Roswell, Jason Anavitarte of Dallas, Greg Dolezal of Cumming, Steve Gooch of Dahlonega and Tyler Harper of Ocilla.
ATLANTA – A former member of the University System of Georgia Board of Regents was indicted Tuesday for racketeering in connection with a scheme to defraud investors.
Dean Alford is charged with one count of racketeering, one count of criminal attempt, one count of computer forgery and five counts of forgery in the second degree.
Alford is accused of selling fake accounts receivable invoices to investors valued at $2.2 million, along with contracts and other documents to show his now-bankrupt energy development company was owed money by state agencies.
He also allegedly forged the signatures of state employees on those contracts and other documents while serving on the Board of Regents representing Georgia’s 4th Congressional District.
In a common business practice known as “factoring,” businesses may sell their accounts receivable to a third party at a discount. In this case, Alford’s alleged scheme was to obtain $1.7 million.
“Acts of fraud and corruption have no place in Georgia’s state government,” said John Fowler, deputy attorney general for the state Department of Law’s Prosecution Division.
“Those who are trusted to be public servants must discharge their duties ethically and honestly, and when they do not, this office and our law enforcement partners will hold them accountable.”
If convicted, Alford faces five to 20 years in prison for racketeering, one to 10 years for criminal attempt, one to 15 years for computer forgery and one to five years for forgery in the second degree. He also could be fined up to $225,000.
The joint investigation included the Office of the Attorney General’s Public Integrity and White Collar Crimes Section, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the University System of Georgia and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
The indictment was returned in Rockdale County Superior Court.
The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Alford in the case last year.
Alford resigned from the Board of Regents in October 2019. About two weeks later, 39 investors filed a civil suit accusing him of running a Ponzi scheme.
