Category Archives: Law

Another anti-HB 87 rally gets national coverage

AP story in the Wall Street Journal yesterday, Opponents of GA immigration law rally at Capitol:
Several hundred people, mostly labor union members, rallied Saturday at the Georgia Capitol against the state’s new law targeting illegal immigrants. It was the latest in a string of actions by opponents to protest the law.

The Rev. Al Sharpton told the crowd the law violates civil and human rights and will lead to racial profiling of U.S. citizens and others who are in the country legally.

“We’re going to stop it here before it goes any further to other communities,” the New York-based minister and civil rights activist said. “We cannot have a nation where, based on your language or your race, determines your rights. Your rights must be determined by the fact that we’re all equal.”

The Washington Examiner included a byline, by Kate Brumback, and an AP photo:
Ben Speight, a local Teamsters organizer, echoed those sentiments and said labor groups must get involved.

“Let’s get in the way of hate. Let’s build a social movement,” he said, to loud cheers. “Labor cannot be isolated. We’ve got to reach out to the community and stand up against hate.”

Weekly rallies; an interesting development on a subject that unites urban union members and rural farmers.

-jsq

1 in 13 Georgia adults in the prison system —Pew Center on the States

Georgia is number 1 in something: locking people up, 1 in 13 of adults, according to the Pew Center on the States.

That costs us more than a billion dollars a year in tax money, 5.9% of the state budget. That’s up from $133.26 million in 1983, increased by more than a factor of seven.

Meanwhile, the correctional population swelled from around 100,000 in 1982 to more than 550,000 in 2007. And while other states have started decreasing their prison populations, Georgia’s continues to increase. The state is even coming up with new ways to lock people up, such as kicking them out of mental institutions. We seem headed back towards plantation slave labor and prison road gangs in for minor drug infractions.

How about we reverse this trend? Continue reading

Sunday Sales of Alcohol —Alexander Abell

Received yesterday. -jsq
Depending on what City Council decides at tomorrow’s meeting, citizens may get a chance to vote in November whether or not to allow the sale of alcoholic beverages in stores on Sundays. As an American and a strong believer in freedom and democracy, I support this vote. I wonder why some protest even having a vote.

I cannot think of a single good legal argument for banning the sale of alcohol on Sundays. If you consider alcohol sinful, you are free not to purchase or consume any no matter the day of the week. If it is not against your own morals, why should

Continue reading

Keep the business of our county in order —Gretchen Quarterman @ LCC 28 June 2011

Should it take more than six months to find the county ordinances that code enforcement needs?

Gretchen Quarterman thanked County Clerk Paige Dukes for helping her in the “neverending answering to my list of questions.” She noted that:

The chairman thinks I’m badgering, but really I’m not. This body makes ordinances, and some of the ordinances are on the website. If you go to the state website, and find out where all the laws of the state are; go to the city of Valdosta’s website, and find out where all the laws of Valdosta are. Go to our website and only find out some of the ordinances.

Paige says she has been diligently working on this and I absolutely positively believe her. And I know it’s very complicated But I really encourage y’all as a body — I’m not trying to tell you how to do your job — but to keep the business of our county in order. Thank you.

She’s been trying to get public access to all the ordinances since December. The county doesn’t even have a list of all the ordinances.

Should it take more than six months to find the local laws that code enforcement needs? Chairman Ashley Paulk and 2 of 3 voting Commissioners, Crawford Powell and Richard Raines, are businessmen. Could they run a business when resolutions of the board were nowhere to be found?

-jsq

Here’s the video: Continue reading

“Once the investigation is complete and closed all documents will be provided to you.” —Custodian of Records

More from Susan Leavens:
—– Forwarded Message —- From: “King, Shirley”
To: “sleavens4@bellsouth.net”
Sent: Wed, October 27, 2010 2:21:02 PM
Subject: Open Records Request
Ms. Leavens, as you requested under the Georgia Open Records Act, please find message from the custodian of records for Animal Protection attached.
If we may assist you any further, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Thanks.
Shirley J. King
Open Records Coordinator
The attached PDF is here on the LAKE website. Interestingly, although that message from Patricia Mitchell, “Animal Protection Office Custodian of Records” says
“Once the investigation is complete and closed all documents will be provided to you.”
it also says:
“By policy the department only retains 2 years (2008 & 2009) inactive files and 1 years (2010) active files.”
So if the investigation takes more than 2 years, do the earlier files about it start to vanish?

-jsq

Budget presentation —Stephanie Black @ LCC 28 June 2011

More than half of Lowndes County expenditures go to law enforcement, including sheriff, courts, and the jail.

At Tuesday’s budget hearing, Lowndes County Finance Director Stephanie Black presented the proposed 2012 budget to the Commission.

Here are the details of the budget, as photographed by Gretchen from the single copy provided for the public to see by the county clerk.

Here are photographs of her slides.

Here’s a playlist of the videos.

A couple more videos of this hearing to come of remarks by Chairman Ashley Paulk and County Manager Joe Pritchard in this budget hearing, plus a related video from the Citizens Wishing to be Heard later that same day.

-jsq

HB 87 getting press in Mexico

Famous not just in France, but also in Mexico! Georgia’s HB 87 gets press south of the border.
El Universal of Mexico City reported from Atlanta 27 June 2011, Juez bloquea partes de ley migratoria de Georgia
Un juez federal concedió este lunes la solicitud de impedir que partes de la ley de Georgia contra la inmigración ilegal entren en vigor hasta que se resuelva una demanda.

El juez Thomas Thrash bloqueó partes de la legislación que penaliza a la gente que transporte o albergue a indocumentados, y también detuvo las cláusulas que le autorizan a los agentes verificar el estatus migratorio de alguien que no pueda proporcionar una identificación adecuada.

Además, el magistrado sobreseyó partes de la demanda a solicitud del estado.

La mayoría de las cláusulas que forman la ley iban a entrar en vigor el 1 de julio.

Grupos activistas por las libertades civiles habían interpuesto una demanda en la que le pedían al juez que declarara inconstitucional la legislación e impidiera que entrara en vigor.

eca

In case you have not emulated Mayor Paul Bridges of Uvalde and learned Spanish, here’s google translate’s version in English:
A federal judge on Monday granted the request to prevent parts of the Georgia law against illegal immigration to take effect pending resolution of a lawsuit.

Judge Thomas Thrash blocked parts of the legislation that penalizes people who transport or shelter illegal immigrants, and also stopped the clauses that authorize agents to verify the immigration status of someone who can not provide proper identification.

In addition, the judge dismissed portions of the demand at the request of the state.

Most of the clauses that make up the law to go into effect on July 1.

Groups civil liberties activists had filed a lawsuit in which he asked the judge to declare unconstitutional legislation and prevent the entry into force.

eca

Pithy but factual.

We don’t need to feed the incarceration machine with a private prison in Lowndes County Georgia that will profit private prison executives and investors at the expense of Georgia taxpayers and Georgia farmers. Spend that tax money on rehabilitation and education instead.

-jsq

I tried following the chian of command —Susan Leavens

Many comments are on Animal shelter open records and Return cameras. Susan Leavens provides specific information in this one. -jsq
Concerned Citizen,

Please understand that there are state laws that people get arrested for each day also; the county ordiance mirrors the state law(s) however if you have not read the statements no one was arrested either. And do you think the bulldog was the first incident? Keep reading!! Below are some other things which have occured in the shelter.

Page 3 #15 Cruelty,
Page 5 #23 hoplesly disable animal,
page 5 #26 humane care,
page 7 #36 records,
Section 5 page 10 Emergencies involving animals,

to name a few of the Lowndes County Ordinance.

So when you say why didn’t I(Officer Leavens)end

Continue reading

Return cameras or I’m going to pursue it through the Sheriff’s office —Ashley Paulk @ LCC 28 June 2011

Chairman Paulk threatened the Humane Society with legal action last night:
…the Humane Society provided two county employees with undercover cameras as a gratuity.

I want those two undercover cameras returned by my two employees, or there will be some administrative action.

I’m making this a public record.

If I don’t get those cameras back and the gratuity I’m going to pursue it through the Sheriff’s office.

Needs to be public record in the VDT.
The picture shows Ashley Paulk (center) motioning to VDT reporter David Rodock (foreground) as he directs the VDT to publish what he just said. Mechelle Sullivan is on the right, and County Manager Joe Pritchard looks on from left. Voting Commissioners Evans, Raines, and Powell are just visible between Paulk and Sullivan.

The VDT did take dictation and publish that this morning, adding this quote from Chairman Paulk:

“It’s a gratuity. You can’t give a government employee something in order to get something in return. It’s not legal.”
Other things are also not legal, yet never seem to be pursued.

Speaking of pursued, Chairman Paulk encountered a group of Continue reading

How to bring a case to the Sheriff’s attention

Sheriff Prine was at last night’s budget hearing (his office accounts for more of the county budget than anything else). Afterwards I asked him how matters such as the complaints about the animal shelter could be brought to the attention of his office. He said that was a code enforcement matter, and if code enforcement thought it rose to a criminal matter, they would take it to Magistrate Court, which would issue a warrant, which would go to the Sheriff’s office, where it would be pursued.

Remember who code enforcement is in Lowndes County. Continue reading