ATLANTA – Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr is urging the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to take immediate action to allow cellphone jamming devices to be used inside state prisons and local jails.
The FCC currently prohibits state and local governments from using jammers, a policy that dates back to the 1990s, before prison inmates began using contraband cellphones to plan and execute dangerous criminal operations.
“Nothing in (federal law) prohibits the FCC from revising its position to allow state agencies to use cellphone jamming devices in prisons,” Carr wrote in a letter to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel dated Tuesday.
“In fact, the United States Bureau of Prisons has recognized the potential value of cellphone jammers already and is permitted to use jamming devices at several federal penitentiaries, including at least one in Georgia.”
In Georgia alone, 8,074 contraband cellphones were confiscated last year, with 5,482 confiscated so far this year.
Recently, an incarcerated leader of the infamous street gang “Yves Saint Laurent Squad” used a contraband cellphone to order a hit that resulted in the death of an 88-year-old Georgia veteran.
“There are hundreds of examples from across the country of how a contraband cellphone in the hands of an inmate can be used as a deadly weapon (to) give them the ability to continue their criminal enterprise,” Georgia Commissioner of Corrections Tyrone Oliver said.
“As attempts to infiltrate our facilities with contraband cellphones evolve, access to jamming technology is paramount in our efforts to combat those attempts.”
The General Assembly passed legislation this year stiffening penalties for smuggling prohibited items including cellphones into prisons.
ATLANTA – The state Court of Appeals won’t hear former President Donald Trump’s appeal of a lower court ruling in the Georgia election interference case until October, multiple news outlets reported Monday.
The October hearing date the appellate court has set for Trump’s attempt to remove Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from prosecuting the case all but guarantees the trial will not take place until after the Nov. 5 election.
Trump’s legal team sought Willis’ removal after she admitted a prior romantic relationship with attorney Nathan Wade, who she hired to lead the prosecution.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee ruled in April that Willis could remain on the case but only if Wade stepped down, which he did a few hours after the decision was handed down.
A Fulton grand jury indicted Trump and 18 codefendants last August, charging the Republican with participating in a conspiracy to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia, which saw Joe Biden become the first Democrat to carry the Peach State since 1992.
Trump also faces federal charges arising from his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and his retaining of classified government documents at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida after leaving office.
Last week, the former president was convicted in New York City of 34 felonies for falsifying business records in connection with payments of hush money to ex-porn star Stormy Daniels to cover up a sexual relationship that was threatening to become public shortly before he won the presidency in 2016. Trump is schedule to be sentenced on July 11, four days before the start of the Republican National Convention.
The weeks-long trial that ended last week appears to be the only one of the four criminal cases against Trump likely to be tried before voters go the polls to decide between Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee to return to the White House, and Biden, who is seeking reelection.
