On February 27, 1922, the United States Supreme Court released an unanimous decision holding that the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, granting women the right to vote, is constitutional. The case, Leser v. Garnett, arose because of a challenge seeking to strike women’s names from the voter rolls in Maryland and asserting:
- The power to amend the Constitution did not cover this amendment, due to its character.
- Several states that had ratified the amendment had constitutions that prohibited women from voting, rendering them unable to ratify an amendment to the contrary.
- The ratifications of Tennessee and West Virginia were invalid, because they were adopted without following the rules of legislative procedure in place in those states.
It might as well have asserted that sleeping on the couch for the rest of the plantiffs’ lives would be cold and uncomfortable.
On February 27, 1962, Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Ralph David Abernathy were tried in Albany for charges stemming from a demonstration on the steps of City Hall.
On February 27, 1982, Wayne Williams was convicted in Fulton County Superior Court of murdering two adult males. Atlanta Police later said he was guilty of at least 23 of 29 child murders between 1979 and 1981. Williams was never indicted or tried on the allegations of child murder and maintains his innocence.
Wreckage off the New York coast may be part of the SS Savannah, the first steamship to cross the Atlantic, according to the Associated Press via WJBF.
A chunk of weather-beaten flotsam (def: the wreckage of a ship or its cargo found floating on or washed up by the sea.) that washed up on a New York shoreline after Tropical Storm Ian last fall has piqued the interest of experts who say it is likely part of the SS Savannah, which ran aground and broke apart in 1821, two years after it became the first vessel to cross the Atlantic Ocean partly under steam power.
The roughly 13-foot (4-meter) square piece of wreckage was spotted in October off Fire Island, a barrier island that hugs Long Island’s southern shore, and is now in the custody of the Fire Island Lighthouse Preservation Society. It will work with National Park Service officials to identify the wreckage and put it on public display.
It may be difficult to identify the wreckage with 100% certainty, but park service officials said the Savannah is a top contender among Fire Island’s known shipwrecks.
Explorers have searched for the Savannah for over two centuries but have not found anything they could definitively link to the famous ship. The newly discovered wreckage, though, “very well could be” a piece of the historic shipwreck, said Ira Breskin, a senior lecturer at the State University of New York Maritime College in the Bronx. “It makes perfect sense.”
Breskin, author of “The Business of Shipping,” noted that the Savannah’s use of steam power was so advanced for its time that the May 24, 1819, start of its transatlantic voyage is commemorated as National Maritime Day. “It’s important because they were trying to basically show the viability of a steam engine to make it across the pond,” he said.
The Savannah, a sailing ship outfitted with a 90-horsepower steam engine, traveled mainly under sail across the Atlantic, using steam power for 80 hours of the nearly month-long passage to Liverpool, England.
Crowds cheered as the Savannah sailed from Liverpool to Sweden and Russia and then back to its home port of Savannah, Georgia, but the ship was not a financial success, in part because people were afraid to travel on the hybrid vessel. The Savannah’s steam engine was removed and sold after the ship’s owners suffered losses in the Great Savannah Fire of 1820.
The Savannah was transporting cargo between Savannah and New York when it ran aground off Fire Island. It later broke apart. The crew made it safely to shore and the cargo of cotton was salvaged, but the Augusta Chronicle & Georgia Gazette reported that “Captain Holdridge was considerably hurt by being upset in the boat.”
Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections
Under the Gold Dome Today – Legislative Day 24
Monday – February 27, 2023
TBD Senate Rules Committee; Upon Adjournment – 450 CAP
7:00 AM Senate Education & Youth – 307 CLOB
8:00 AM HOUSE HIGHER EDUCATION – 606 CLOB
8:00 AM HOUSE SMALL BUSINESS DEV – 506 CLOB
8:00 AM Senate Reapportionment & Redistricting – 450 CAP
8:30 AM Senate State & Local Govt Ops – 450 CAP
8:30 AM Senate Veterans, Military, & Homeland Security – 125 CAP
9:00 AM HOUSE RULES – 341 CAP
10:00 AM HOUSE FLOOR SESSION (LD 24) – House Chamber
10:00 AM Senate Floor Session (LD 24) – Senate Chamber
1:00 PM HOUSE Judiciary Non-Civil Leverett Sub – 132 CAP
1:00 PM HOUSE PUBLIC HEALTH – 606 CLOB
1:00 PM HOUSE Education Policy Sub – 506 CLOB
1:00 PM HOUSE Ways & Means Income Tax Sub – 406 CLOB
1:00 PM HOUSE SPECIAL RULES – 415 CLOB
1:00 PM Senate Agriculture & Consumer Aff – 450 CAP
1:00 PM Senate Transportation – Mezz 1 CAP
1:15 PM HOUSE Ways & Means Ad Valorem Sub – 406 CLOB
2:00 PM HOUSE Insurance Life and Health Sub – 341 CAP
2:00 PM HOUSE AGRICULTURE & CONSUMER AFF – 415 CLOB
2:00 PM HOUSE RETIREMENT – 506 CLOB
2:00 PM HOUSE Ways & Means Sales Tax Sub – 406 CLOB
2:00 PM HOUSE Insurance Property & Casualty Sub – 515 CLOB
2:00 PM Senate Health & Human Svcs – 450 CAP
2:00 PM Senate Gov’t Oversight – 307 CLOB
2:15 PM HOUSE Ways & Means Public Fin & Policy Sub – 406 CLOB
3:00 PM HOUSE WAYS & MEANS – 406 CLOB
3:00 PM Senate Science & Technology – 310 CLOB
3:00 PM Senate Finance – Mezz 1 CAP
3:30 PM HOUSE JUDICIARY NON-CIVIL – 132 CAP
4:00 PM Senate Judiciary – 307 CLOB
4:00 PM Senate Public Safety – 450 CAP
5:00 PM Senate Ethics Committee – 450 CAP
6:00 PM Senate State & Local Govt Ops – Mezz 1 CAP
Senate Bill 120 by Sen. Shelly Echols (R-Gainesville) passed the Senate, according to AccessWDUN.
District 49 Republican Shelly Echols introduced Senate Bill 120, which passes unanimously with a 54 to 0 vote on Wednesday. The bill was to update a reference to bring a state code regarding safe operations of motor carriers to federal standards. The legislation is typically updated annually.
“With over a decade of experience working with motor carrier safety regulations, I am proud to have authored this legislation to further guide, support, and protect transportation policy,” Echols said. “Public safety is a top priority, and I will continue to work on behalf of all Georgians to ensure it stays that way.”
Echols, a former Hall County Commissioner, took office in January after winning the seat in last November’s election.
Senate Resolution 140 by Sen. Bill Cowsert (R-Athens) passed out of the Regulated Industries Committee and would place a Constitutional Amendment on the 2024 ballot, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Dalton Daily Citizen News.
Senate Resolution 140, subject to a statewide referendum next year, would allow online sports betting under the supervision of the Georgia Lottery Corp. and a newly created gaming commission.
Half of the state’s share of the proceeds from sports betting would go need-based scholarships for students to attend any of Georgia’s public or private colleges and universities as well as technical colleges.
One-quarter of the state’s share of sports betting revenue would be dedicated to health care – including mental health care – economic development and the “reduction of poverty” in low-income areas.
Another 15% would go to public health and educational programs for the prevention and treatment of addictive gambling.
Five percent would be used to solicit, promote, sponsor and host major sporting events in Georgia. The final 5% would benefit “innovational educational programs and services.”
A spokesman for the Georgia Chamber of Commerce spoke out in support of the constitutional amendment Thursday during a hearing held by the Senate Regulated Industries Committee.
“This is the first step in the creation of enhanced economic development and educational opportunities through a robust wagering ecosystem,” said David Raynor, the chamber’s public affairs officer.
After the committee approved the constitutional amendment, committee Chairman Bill Cowsert, R-Athens, said the panel will take up an “enabling” bill spelling out specifics on how sports betting would operate in Georgia next week.
Sports betting is moving through the General Assembly this year on two tracks. Two bills pending in the Georgia House and Senate would legalize sports betting without changing the state constitution.
House Bill 73 by State Rep. Joseph Gullett (R-Cobb County) was recommended for passage by the House Committee on Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications, according to the Georgia Recorder.
The Georgia House could cast a vote on as early as this week on a bill that would give the Public Service Commission the sweeping power to regulate solar panel installers and set guidelines designed to weed out companies that saddle customers with overpriced equipment and make false claims about how much the solar panels will reduce their energy bills.
The House Committee on Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications last week unanimously approved House Bill 73 after holding several committee meetings on the proposal to have the state utilities regulators determine which companies are allowed to finance and install solar panels and the ability to pull licenses and fine companies who run afoul of the rules.
Dallas Republican Rep. Joseph Gullett’s bill would allow the five-member commission to issue “certificates of authority” to solar companies before the start of 2024.
“What we’re not trying to do is shut down solar installations in Georgia,” Gullett said at a committee meeting. “That’s the exact opposite of what I’m trying to do. I’m trying to make sure that the bad actors are cut out of the market and that the good actors have a great field day and make a lot of money out there.”
House Bill 30 by State Rep. John Carson (R-Cobb County) would define “antisemitism,” according to the Valdosta Daily Times.
The proposed House Bill 30, passed out of the House Judiciary Committee Feb. 21, would adopt the internationally recognized definition for “antisemitism” as adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance in May 2016.
IHRA defines antisemitism as “a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”
“It gives officials a standard definition of what antisemitism needs to be considered when they’re assessing the intent behind unlawful discriminatory actions or hate crimes,” said Mark Goldfeder, general counsel of Hillels of GA, a Jewish support group. “Incorporating this definition is necessary because today, anti-Semites have made horrific acts of discrimination against Jewish people and they hide behind the lack of a definition to avoid accountability.”
Goldfeder said HB 30 does not criminalize or limit antisemitism speech, but addresses discriminatory acts and hate crimes committed against Jewish people.
“There is no doubt antisemitism is on the rise,” said [State Rep. Esther] Panitch, a co-sponsor of HB 30. “We need every tool in our toolbox. To be clear, [HB 30] does not restrict speech. There is an ongoing campaign, a misinformation campaign, to say it violates free speech … The definition does not even come into play until there’s an unlawful act like unlawful discrimination or a crime has already been committed.”
Marietta state Rep. John Carson, a Republican, sponsored the bill to support and protects Jews in Georgia.
“I’m here because I believe that this is right, this is moral and this was just the right thing to do for people that are constantly being persecuted, even though they are a vast minority of the population,” he said. “They get huge amounts of persecution on religious and other grounds. It is important that we pass this bill, that we end the hate toward this community once and for all.”
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr (R-Cobb County) visited Albany and discussed gang violence, according to WALB.
Law enforcement officers said they have seen an alarming trend.
The ages of people being recruited into gangs are getting younger and younger. Southwest Georgia law enforcement said they are doing their best to combat the issue.
Thursday marked the seventh statewide meeting of the Georgia anti-gang network.
“We started this effort back in 2018 to bring together federal state and local law enforcement focusing in four areas,” Carr said. “One is improving communication as it relates to gangs, improving sharing, improving prosecutions. But then also identifying proven anti-recruitment programs that we can focus on.”
Dougherty County District Attorney Greg Edwards said many kids have been recruited by people they know, even family members
“Young people are not seeing anything other than what they see in their immediate neighborhoods. It’s amazing how some people, adults, have never left Albany. They’ve never been anywhere,” Edwards said. “They’ve never seen anything. Anything that we can do to develop a global opportunity for them to see other aspects of life and know that there’s more to life than what the gangs can offer you.”
Western Circuit District Attorney Deborah Gonzalez (D) will host an event to hear from residents, according to the Athens Banner Herald.
The program is billed as a Community Safety Listening Session and is set for 6-8 p.m. in the Appleton Auditorium. The meeting is open to the public.
“Community input and experiences are essential components of creating change within the justice system and in building a safer community,” the library noted in a release about the program, which was started by the DA’s office. The first meeting last August featured UGA athletic department employee Bryant Gantt.
Gonzalez was elected in 2020 to the office as a progressive Democrat with promises to eliminate prosecutorial practices that she believed were biased and ineffective at deterring crime.
[I]n recent months her office has been dealing with high turnover in assistant district attorneys. As recently as January the office had vacancies of eight assistant district attorneys in a staff of 12 assistants. She has filled some of the slots and recently brought on board former Macon Judicial Circuit District Attorney David Cooke as a special assistant to assist with case prosecutions.
During the February discussions on the request, Commissioner Jesse Houle noted that the DA’s office “is in a staffing crisis.”
The Western Judicial Circuit serves Athens-Clarke County and Oconee County.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation arrested Homerville police Chief Dearin “Mack” Drury, according to the AJC.
Homerville police Chief Dearin “Mack” Drury, 40, was arrested last week after a Feb. 19 incident during which evidence was improperly handled, according to the state agency.
That incident was reported to the Clinch County Sheriff’s Office, which then asked the GBI to conduct the investigation.
The GBI has not disclosed the details of its findings, but Drury faces multiple charges, including theft by taking, possession of marijuana, false statements and writings and violation of oath of office. He turned himself in Wednesday.
On Saturday, multiple officers resigned after the city appointed an interim chief, the sheriff’s office confirmed in a statement.
In its public response, the sheriff’s office defended the Homerville officers, stating that they could not be expected to follow orders from the governing body that hired the chief, citing alleged actions by the City Council and city manager that disrupted work by the police department.
“The officers were under no obligation to continue their employment with a city council and city manager who has repeatedly taken steps to undermine their positions, blatantly encourage unrest, attempt to bully them into not enforcing laws in the city, and obstruct investigations,” the statement read. “Those officers have integrity … and no law enforcement officer should be forced to work in an agency that will not allow them to do their jobs.”
Tourism in Plains, Georgia is up after news that former President Jimmy Carter entered hospice care, according to WALB.
Business owners said tourism has picked up ever since The Carter Center announced Carter had gone into hospice home care. They said they’re doing their best to educate people on his legacy.
Other major media outlets have been filling the Plains streets.
Rebecca Mann works at Plains Peanuts and General Store. She said it’s been much busier than usual.
“It has been hectic in Plains, Ga. Typically it’s quiet. But since everything with Carter, it’s been chaos,” she said.
Many tourists said they have learned even more knowledge about Carter since coming to Plains. And that their thoughts and prayers are with his family at this time.
Warner Robins Mayor LaRhonda Patrick has spent a year in office, according to the Macon Telegraph.
In November 2021, Warner Robins Mayor LaRhonda Patrick made history when she became the first Black person, first woman and youngest person to be elected as mayor since the city was founded.
Now over a year into her role, Mayor Patrick said it still feels “very surreal” to be a part of history and to represent the city.
“Representation absolutely matters,” Patrick said. “I have a son who’s five years old and I want him to know that he can be anything he wants to be, anything he aims to be, he can do it. But I also have to make sure I show him that people like you can do these things. And as times go on, people keep advancing. So there’s more likelihood that I can show my son an example of someone doing the exact same thing he wants to do. So though I didn’t have anyone to look to to say, hey, there’s another mayor of a city that looks like me, I was able to gain the people’s trust and be that person and that figure here in Warner Robins.
“One of my proudest moments is being able to go into an elementary school and I ask the kids, ‘Do you know who I am?’ And a lot of them don’t know who I am, but then when they hear who I am, their eyes light up. … They’re surprised when they see that I am the mayor and just seeing how their faces light up and how excited they are to see the mayor that looks like them in a lot of cases, it really is a humbling experience. It’s very exciting and it really does warm my heart.”
Atlanta City Council continues considering legislation to regulate short term rentals, according to the AJC.
Atlanta city officials have, yet again, delayed action on short-term vacation rental regulations after hearing testimony more public during last week’s full council meeting.
Under the proposal, owners of rentals listed on platforms like Airbnb and VRBO would have to obtain a city permit to operate. It also puts limits on how many single- and two-family vacation homes can operate within a certain distance of each other.
Tybee Island raised parking rates, according to the Savannah Morning News.
Beginning March 1, visitors of Tybee Island should expect to see different rates when they open their Park Tybee app or expect to carry a little bit more change on them to pay the parking meters. The city announced an increase in parking rates that will see the hourly parking rate increase from $3.50 to $4.
For those who pay for long-term parking decals, the annual parking pass will increase from $200 to $250 each and the transferable parking pass will increase from $300 to $350 each. The senior discounted pass price will remain at $175 and there will be no change to the parking code that local businesses can obtain for employee parking.
Tybee Island Mayor Shirley Sessions said the increase in the number of yearly visitors to the barrier island means more cars and a need to better manage the limited parking spaces. The increase in rates is meant to augment the cost of parking services.
“The public demands better service and with that comes an additional increase in what we have to provide,” Sessions said. “When you look at the cost of living and we look at the services the city must provide, it seems certainly I think worth it to make sure that people have a good experience when they come to Tybee. And hopefully, that’s what will continue to provide at any cost.”
Cobb County Commissioner Keli Gambrill and Cobb resident Larry Savage filed a lawsuit against the county over Commission-adopted district plans, according to the AJC.
Gambrill, one of two Republican commissioners in Cobb, has been an outspoken opponent of the board’s unprecedented move last year to amend its own district map in order to keep Democratic Commissioner Jerica Richardson in office. But the dispute dates back to last spring, when Republicans in the state Legislature adopted electoral lines that would have effectively disqualified Richardson from holding office halfway through her 4-year elected term.
The lawsuit asks Cobb County Superior Court Judge Ann Harris to demand that the county retract its amendment of the electoral map and acknowledge the map passed by state lawmakers as the legal map of the county.
It also seeks to force the county to “ensure that only those commissioners who are validly, legally (and) constitutionally permitted” to serve on the Board of Commissioners are allowed to do so, taking direct aim at Richardson’s seat. If the lawsuit succeeds, political control of Cobb’s board would be split 2-2 between the two major parties until a new election can be held in a heavily Democratic District 2.
The Cobb commission has been operating in uncertainty under its amended map while state officials have decried it as unconstitutional and not legally binding.
The lawsuit cites unofficial opinion letters issued by the Office of Legislative Counsel, the Secretary of State’s office and the Attorney General’s office, all of which say the county does not have the power to amend its own map.
Robert Bryant announced he will run for Savannah City Council District 5, according to the Savannah Morning News.
He says he was inspired to run after having conversations with people in his home district about the level of advocacy expected from the bench at city hall, and he believes his current representative, longtime Alderwoman and Mayor Pro-Tem Estella Shabazz, is not meeting that standard. Shabazz has not yet announce a run for re-election.
Bryant lost the [2020] Georgia PSC race to the incumbent, Republican Jason Shaw, by 190,000 votes on Nov. 3, 2020, narrowly missing a runoff.
Patricia Frey announced she will run for the Muscogee County Board of Education District 7 vacancy, according to the Ledger-Enquirer.
Frey is vice president of Home For Good, the United Way of the Chattahoochee Valley’s program dedicated to helping individuals and families move from homelessness to permanent and stable housing.
This news came two days after Cathy Williams, the MCSD board’s current representative, received the most votes among the 24 state legislators whose districts are in or contiguous to the 2nd Congressional District to serve a five-year term on the 14-member Georgia Department of Transportation Board.
Williams told the Ledger-Enquirer the target date for her resignation from the school board and swearing-in ceremony to join the transportation board is April 1.
That means the next available date for a special election is June 20, but that won’t be set until the Muscogee County Board of Elections and Registration officially is notified that the seat is vacant, elections board director Nancy Boren told the L-E.
Savannah City Council member Kesha Gibson-Carter hosted a “Fit at 50” event, according to the Savannah Morning News.
Carter said, “I recently turned 50 and as opposed to taking a trip or having a photoshoot or a big birthday bash, I decided to give a gift to the City of Savannah on behalf of the City of Savannah. We want a fit Savannah, a healthy Savannah, an active Savannah.”
Trainer and fitness experts from throughout the city of Savannah provided wellness tips as well as mini workouts to help people improve their health, lifestyle, and well-being.
She also partnered with JC Lewis Primary Care to help residents get their blood pressure checked and learn more about their health. Tristian Hibbard, a case worker for JC Lewis, says it’s important to put your health first.
Three candidates in the March 21 Special Election for St Marys City Council met in a public forum, according to The Brunswick News.
Local residents marched to protest increasing violent crime, according to the Augusta Chronicle.
Richmond County sheriff’s Lt. Robbie Silas on Saturday asked, “How many folks here have experienced death because of gun violence?” Dozens of people gathered at May Park Community Center responded by raising their hands.
His speech was part of the reception that followed a march against gun violence in downtown Augusta that started at Dyess Park and ended at the community center.
About 30 activists made the march, zig-zagging through downtown for a little more than a mile. The group had a wide diversity in race and age. But their voices were in unison when they shouted phrases like: “Take back our streets” and “No more silence, stop gun violence!” Many also carried signs with similar messages.
The number of participants gradually increased to a little more than 50 by the time everyone got to May Park. Inside the community center’s gym, there were messages and prayers from various community leaders, including Augusta Mayor Garnett Johnson.
The CSRA’s crime wave recently surpassed 70 slayings since April of last year. Over a handful of those happened since the start of this year with Augusta being hit the hardest.
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