by Dave Williams | Jan 3, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The Justice Department has entered into a consent decree with Fulton County calling for a series of improvements at the county jail aimed at ending violations of prisoners’ constitutional rights, the federal agency announced Friday.
The feds launched an investigation into conditions at the Fulton County Jail in July 2023 based on complaints that jail employees were engaging in a pattern of inhumane – and frequently violent – treatment of prisoners. The jail also was accused of housing prisoners awaiting formal charges or trials in filthy and unsanitary living conditions in violation of the 8th and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.
The investigation began following the death in 2022 of Lashawn Thompson, a prisoner at the Fulton jail found dead covered in bed bugs and insects.
“The proposed consent decree is a critical step toward correcting the dangerous and dehumanizing conditions that have persisted in the Fulton County Jail for far too long,” U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said Friday. “We are encouraged that local officials have agreed to a plan that will begin to address the inhumane, unconstitutional conditions that were reflected in Lashawn Thompson’s horrific death.”
“Our findings regarding the Fulton County Jail identified serious and life-threatening violations of the Constitution and other laws,” added Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Detention in the Fulton County Jail amounted to a death sentence for dozens of people who have been murdered or who died as a result of inhumane conditions inside the facility.”
The consent decree, which still must be approved by the court, requires the county to develop plans to keep incarcerated people safe from violence, including a pest management system to keep the jail clean, sanitary and free of pests.
The agreement also calls for improving jail supervision and staffing, protecting prisoners from risk of suicide, providing adequate medical and mental health care, and ending the practice of housing vulnerable people in isolation.
The consent decree also provides for an independent monitor to keep track of the required improvements. The monitor will issue public reports on the jail’s progress every six months.
by Dave Williams | Jan 3, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) will move forward with a plan to expand the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge the swamp’s supporters hope will help sink a proposed titanium mine, the federal agency announced Friday.
The planned expansion of about 22,000 acres got an enthusiastic reception during a 55-day public comment period. The agency received about 30,000 comments generally supportive of the proposal from all 50 states and 36 countries.
“The response received during the public comment period is a testament to just how special Okefenokee is, not just to our local community, but to people all over the nation and around the world,” said Michael Lusk, the refuge’s manager. “This minor expansion will help further conservation efforts for the swamp along with the threatened and endangered species that inhabit it.”
Alabama-based Twin Pines Minerals (TPM) is seeking state permits to mine titanium dioxide on Trail Ridge, the Okefenokee’s eastern hydrologic boundary.
While company executives have said the project would not harm the swamp, scientific studies have concluded the proposed mine would significantly damage the largest blackwater swamp in North America by drawing down its water level and increasing the risk of drought and fires.
Josh Marks, president of Georgians for the Okefenokee, said expanding the refuge’s boundary is a “critical development” in efforts to protect the Okefenokee from mining.
“As someone who fought DuPont’s massive strip-mining proposal in the 1990s and helped add part of the DuPont property to the refuge, I know firsthand the vital role that land acquisition has and must play in safeguarding this world-class resource,” Marks said.
“The spotlight now shines even brighter on Gov. (Brian) Kemp, who should deny the permits for TPM’s dangerous project along the swamp’s southeastern edge, which will in turn incentivize TPM to follow DuPont’s lead and donate or sell its property for conservation.”
The Fish and Wildlife Service unveiled the planned expansion in October, which will allow the agency to negotiate with owners of the land who are willing to either sell their property to the federal government or establish a conservation easement.
Lewis Jones, a lawyer representing Twin Pines Minerals, wrote the Fish and Wildlife Service last month that it would not oppose the boundary expansion.
“We will take FWS at its word that its sole effect (is) to allow FWS to acquire property from willing sellers, that it will not have any effect on the permitting process … and that FWS will not use the expanded boundary as a basis to assert control over private property it is unable to acquire,” Jones wrote.
Expanding the boundary will allow the agency to potentially offer such priority public uses as hunting, fishing, wildlife watching, and education to the refuge’s more than 400,000 annual visitors, boosting a growing ecotourism economy in southeastern Georgia.
Friday’s announcement follows last month’s announcement that the refuge will be nominated to join UNESCO’s World Heritage List. If designated, the refuge would join more than 1,200 cultural and natural sites around the world, including the Grand Canyon and the Great Wall of China.
by Dave Williams | Jan 3, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – A Macon man has pleaded guilty in federal court to robbing two credit unions in 2022 and attempting to rob a third.
Felix Cordes, 57, faces up to 25 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 after pleading guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court in Macon to using a firearm to rob the MidSouth Community Federal Credit Union in April 2022 and the Central Georgia Regional Credit Union the following month, stealing $38,374. Both credit unions are located in Macon.
Cordes also admitted to a third robbery attempt at another MidSouth Community Federal Credit Union in May 22, which was unsuccessful.
The robberies caused employees of the credit unions to suffer panic attacks, U.S. Attorney Peter Leary said Friday.
“Bank tellers were terrified when Felix Cordes walked into their workplace and threatened them with a firearm, a scene he replayed again and then attempted a third time,” Leary said. “His final act (was) thwarted by brave credit union employees who saw him coming with a gun and quickly locked down the bank.”
“Felix Cordes was a ruthless and relentless criminal who possibly could have killed innocent bank employees had he not been stopped by the diligent work of investigators,” added Bibb County Sheriff David Davis. “We can be grateful that justice has been served and he will be held accountable for spreading mayhem in our community.”
A sentencing date will be determined by the court. Besides the prison time and fine, Cordes faces five years of supervised release following his prison term.
by Dave Williams | Jan 3, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Ryan Buchanan has announced his resignation as U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia.
Buchanan will step down from the post on Jan. 19, one day before Donald Trump is sworn in as the nation’s 47th president.
After serving as assistant U.S. attorney for the district since 2013, Buchanan was nominated to move into the top job by President Joe Biden in late 2021. He took up the position in the spring of 2022 after his confirmation by the U.S. Senate.
“It is nearly impossible for me to reduce to writing my admiration and gratitude for you,” Buchanan wrote Thursday in a message to members of his office. “You embody the high ideals of the Department of Justice, and you live out our mission daily. The Northern District, the state of Georgia, and the United States are safer because of your efforts.”
Under Buchanan’s leadership, the Northern District of Georgia created a dedicated section – the Public Integrity & Civil Rights Section – to formalize and expand the office’s civil and criminal civil rights work.
The new section helped convict former Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill of intentionally violating the civil rights of six pre-trial detainees by ordering them strapped into restraint chairs for hours without legal justification. The unit also prosecuted 11 high-ranking city of Atlanta officials and contractors for bribery, theft, tax fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering, including the conviction of former Chief Financial Officer Jim Beard.
Other civil rights investigations uncovered multiple violations of the constitutional and statutory rights of prisoners at the Fulton County Jail and of inmates incarcerated in state prisons.
Buchanan also spearheaded the creation of the Northern Georgia Fentanyl Prosecution Working Group, a data-driven effort targeting the counties in the Northern District hit hardest by the opioid epidemic.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Moultrie Jr. will succeed Buchanan on an acting basis until Trump nominates a ATLANTA – Ryan Buchanan has announced his resignation as U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia.
Buchanan will step down from the post on Jan. 19, one day before Donald Trump is sworn in as the nation’s 47th president.
After serving as assistant U.S. attorney for the district since 2013, Buchanan was nominated to move into the top job by President Joe Biden in late 2021. He took up the position in the spring of 2022 after his confirmation by the U.S. Senate.
“It is nearly impossible for me to reduce to writing my admiration and gratitude for you,” Buchanan wrote Thursday in a message to members of his office. “You embody the high ideals of the Department of Justice, and you live out our mission daily. The Northern District, the state of Georgia, and the United States are safer because of your efforts.”
Under Buchanan’s leadership, the Northern District of Georgia created a dedicated section – the Public Integrity & Civil Rights Section – to formalize and expand the office’s civil and criminal civil rights work.
The new section helped convict former Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill of intentionally violating the civil rights of six pre-trial detainees by ordering them strapped into restraint chairs for hours without legal justification. The unit also prosecuted 11 high-ranking city of Atlanta officials and contractors for bribery, theft, tax fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering, including the conviction of former Chief Financial Officer Jim Beard.
Other civil rights investigations uncovered multiple violations of the constitutional and statutory rights of prisoners at the Fulton County Jail and of inmates incarcerated in state prisons.
Buchanan also spearheaded the creation of the Northern Georgia Fentanyl Prosecution Working Group, a data-driven effort targeting the counties in the Northern District hit hardest by the opioid epidemic.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Moultrie Jr. will succeed Buchanan on an acting basis until Trump nominates a ATLANTA – Ryan Buchanan has announced his resignation as U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia.
Buchanan will step down from the post on Jan. 19, one day before Donald Trump is sworn in as the nation’s 47th president.
After serving as assistant U.S. attorney for the district since 2013, Buchanan was nominated to move into the top job by President Joe Biden in late 2021. He took up the position in the spring of 2022 after his confirmation by the U.S. Senate.
“It is nearly impossible for me to reduce to writing my admiration and gratitude for you,” Buchanan wrote Thursday in a message to members of his office. “You embody the high ideals of the Department of Justice, and you live out our mission daily. The Northern District, the state of Georgia, and the United States are safer because of your efforts.”
Under Buchanan’s leadership, the Northern District of Georgia created a dedicated section – the Public Integrity & Civil Rights Section – to formalize and expand the office’s civil and criminal civil rights work.
The new section helped convict former Clayton County Sheriff Victor Hill of intentionally violating the civil rights of six pre-trial detainees by ordering them strapped into restraint chairs for hours without legal justification. The unit also prosecuted 11 high-ranking city of Atlanta officials and contractors for bribery, theft, tax fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering, including the conviction of former Chief Financial Officer Jim Beard.
Other civil rights investigations uncovered multiple violations of the constitutional and statutory rights of prisoners at the Fulton County Jail and of inmates incarcerated in state prisons.
Buchanan also spearheaded the creation of the Northern Georgia Fentanyl Prosecution Working Group, a data-driven effort targeting the counties in the Northern District hit hardest by the opioid epidemic.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Moultrie Jr. will succeed Buchanan on an acting basis until Trump nominates a successor and the Senate confirms the president’s choice .
by Dave Williams | Jan 2, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – A co-founder of the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) is being awarded a Presidential Citizens Medal Thursday at a White House ceremony.
President Joe Biden named 20 recipients of the award this week, including Paula Wallace, 76, who launched SCAD in 1978 with her then-husband, Richard Rowan. She became the private college’s president in 2000 and continues to serve in that role.
The Presidential Citizens Medal is awarded to U.S. citizens who have performed exemplary deeds of service for their country or their fellow citizens.
SCAD, a private college, now numbers more than 17,000 students, with campuses in Savannah and Atlanta, as well as study abroad opportunities in Lacoste, France, and other locations. The school also offers online degrees.
“A lifelong educator and trailblazer of the arts, Paula Wallace dreamt of a school that would transform how we think about professional education,” according to a White House news release. “By establishing the esteemed Savannah College of Art and Design and serving as its president, she has guided thousands of students into creative industries.”
The list of Presidential Citizens Medal recipients includes several well-known politicians, among them former U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, a Republican from Wyoming who lost her seat in Congress after serving on the House committee that investigated then-President Donald Trump’s role in attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election, and Rep. Bennie Thompson, the Mississippi Democrat who chaired the January 6th Committee.
Other prominent former politicians receiving medals include former U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley, a New Jersey Democrat who ran unsuccessfully for his party’s presidential nomination in 2000; former Sen. Chris Dodd, a Democrat from Connecticut; and former Republican Sen. Nancy Kassebaum of Kansas.
