Twenty-two years ago today, Nirvana released “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” the first track from their second album, “Nevermind.” I was in college at the time and can remember not being able to avoid that song for several years. In 2003, MTV and Rolling Stone, which were both relevant to anything at the time, named “Smells Like Teen Spirit” to the number three slot on their list of the best pop songs of all time.

On September 10, 1752, not a single thing happened in Georgia as the day did not exist on calendars in the British Empire.

On September 10, 2002 the Atlanta Braves won a record-breaking 11th consecutive division title as the Philadelphia Phillies lost to the Florida Marlins.

Syria

Yesterday, Georgia’s United States Senator Johnny Isakson announced via press release that he would vote against military involvement in Syria.

“After carefully weighing this very important issue, I have decided that I will vote against the resolution to authorize a U.S. military strike in Syria.“Over the past week, I have traveled my state and have talked personally to hundreds of Georgians. Thousands more constituents have contacted my office by phone and email. It is clear to me that Georgians overwhelmingly oppose our country getting involved militarily in Syria.

“The administration’s lack of a clear strategy is troubling, and the potential fallout following a military strike is also troubling.”

Yesterday, it became apparent that a majority of Members of Congress were on the record opposing or leaning against military intervention in Syria.

A national poll released yesterday by CNN showed Americans evenly divided on whether President Obama is a strong leader and largely unclear on his strategy; CNN attributed some opposition to his policy in Syria to this split of opinion.

Late yesterday, Russia proposed a compromise under which Syria would give control over its chemical weapons to an international organizations. President Obama insisted that a compromise is worth pursuing but argued that the threat of force is still necessary.

“We have not seen these kinds of gestures up until now,” the president said. “The fact that the U.S. administration and I have said we are serious about this, I think, has prompted some interesting conversations.”

The Russian proposal could lead to a “breakthrough,” but would require follow-up while maintaining pressure on Syria and Russia by continuing his push for Congress to authorize a military attack, Obama said.

Eleventh Congressional District and Cherokee County

Cherokee County voters may have fewer polling places in 2014 as the Board of Elections is considering whether to consolidate 42 precincts into 28 as a cost-saving measure. Part of the reason is decreased numbers of election-day voters as more are now voting early.

“More people are voting early rather than are voting on Election Day; that’s the trend,” she said. “With that, you’re opening up these precincts, and you’re staffing them, and you’re just not having the voters turn out.”
According to documents from the Cherokee County Elections and Voter Registration office, early voting in the county has spiked drastically in recent years and has more than doubled since 2006.
Munda said Cherokee County’s early voting numbers aren’t unique.
“This is not just Cherokee County,” she said. “A lot of counties have seen this trend throughout the state of Georgia, and a lot of counties are reducing their precincts as well. It’s been successful, and we anticipate that it will be here as well.”

Cherokee County Board of Education member Kelly Marlow tried to limit the amount of money the board spends on a hearing into alleged ethics violations by Marlow. The motion failed on a 1-6 vote.

Tonight, the Canton Tea Party Patriots will host a town hall on FairTax and Flat Tax reform proposals featuring Bob Barr, candidate for Congress and co-hosted by Georgia FairTax and Atlanta Tea Party. The town hall will be from 7-8:30 PM at the Holly Springs Train Depot, 164 Hickory Road, Canton, Georgia 30115.

Also tonight, Tricia Pridemore will speak to the Kennesaw State Young Republicans from 7pm-8pm at Los Reyes Mexican Restaurant upstairs (777 Townpark Ln, Kennesaw, GA 30144).

Barry Loudermilk is criticizing the other candidates in the election for Eleventh Congressional District as “two trial lawyers and a bureaucrat.”

Loudermilk (R-Cassville) said one supporter characterized the race as that of a small businessman against two trial lawyers and a bureaucrat.
Loudermilk said he was the small businessman, while the bureaucrat was Tricia Pridemore of Marietta, who resigned from her role as executive director of the Governor’s Office of Workforce Development to run for the seat. The two trial attorneys are former Congressman Bob Barr of Smyrna and Georgia House Majority Whip Ed Lindsey (R-Buckhead).

Because that strategy is working so well for Ed Lindsey. It’s worth noting the terminology used here, “trial lawyer.” Some laypeople think of anyone who makes his living in a courtroom advocating for either party as a “trial lawyer,” but within the legal profession, that term is generally reserved for those whose practice consists primarily of filing civil suits on behalf of individual plaintiffs.

The Georgia Trials Lawyers Association, under “Who We Are,” gives a good idea of what they mean when they call themselves Trial Lawyers:

Trial Lawyers are the guardians of these inalienable rights as they represent deserving individuals who have been harmed by the negligence of others, and together they seek justice.

So according to GTLA, a trial lawyer (a) represents individuals; (b) in lawsuits asserting negligence on the part of the other party, an area of the law generally referred to as Torts. Lawyers whose practice includes trial work that does not fit those criteria often take umbrage at being called trial lawyers. But then again, lawyers often take umbrage at any excuse.

Senate District 14

Bruce Thompson, a small business owner who announced his campaign to succeed Barry Loudermilk in the Senate will be joined on the November 5, 2013 ballot by at least two likely candidates. According to the Cherokee Tribune,

 [E]ach candidate’s party affiliation, if any, will be listed on the ballot,” Thomas said.
At least three candidates have so far said they plan to qualify for the seat, which Loudermilk announced he would be vacating to focus on his Congress run just last week.
Dwight Pullen, 53, of Canton, Matt Laughridge, 25, of Cartersville, and Bruce Thompson, 48, of White — who is also Loudermilk’s former finance chairman — all indicated Thursday that they plan to run for the seat.
Qualifying will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 16, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 17 and Sept. 18 from 8 a.m. to noon, Thomas said.
In Cherokee County, the election will be in conjunction with the Nov. 5 city elections, said Cherokee County Supervisor of Elections and Registration Janet Munda.

Among the local elections held on November 5 will be Canton City Council Ward III with four candidates and Woodstock City Council Ward I.

With the largest population of any county in the district and active local elections, Cherokee County will be a battleground in the Eleventh District.

The price of justice

For Gwinnett County District Attorney Danny Porter, an increasing cost of doing business is dealing with electronic evidence. While technology creates new types of evidence that can be useful in prosections and civil lawsuits, the downside it that it requires different expertise than traditional investigative methods. From the Gwinnett Daily Post:

Electronic evidence has been key in solving the murders of two teenagers this year, District Attorney Danny Porter said. So Wednesday, he asked officials for more resources to help use the technology to prosecute criminals.

“We believe this evidence is going to play a critical part,” in the trial that begins next month involving the death of 15-year-old Nick Jackson, who was killed in a home invasion in Norcross, Porter said during the first day of 2014 budget hearings for the county government. “Gwinnett County is on the cutting edge of using technology to solve serious crimes.”

For years, the district attorney’s office has used warrants to get electronic data from cellphone companies, including text messages, cell tower signal tracking, emails and other information.

In 2008, the office had 132 requests for data, while this year it is on track to have more than 1,000.

Juvenile justice reform passed by the state legislature this year will increase the costs of administration at the county level, while saving money for the state, as the reform emphasizes greater levels of court supervision and programming over simply incarcerating young offenders.

The state’s gain in savings is the county’s loss when it comes to juvenile justice reform, a judge said Wednesday.

Gwinnett’s Chief Juvenile Court Judge Robert Rodatus blasted a law passed by the General Assembly this year, which he called a “monster,” saying it added processes that will make the system harder to manage and do little to help at-risk children. And while it promises to save the state millions of dollars, he said the county governments in Georgia would have to bear the cost instead.

Rodatus made the comments Wednesday while presenting his request for additional money in the county’s 2014 budget.

Rodatus asked for five more staffers — four of which had been lost in an efficiency study four years ago — to deal with the reform, which he called an “unnecessary and ridiculous expense.”

While I would not have chosen to use such inflammatory language, the article contains some good information on the anticipated changes to the administration of justice and it’s worth reading in its entirety.