Former Atlanta official gets 14 years in corruption case
A pastor, political operative and former high-ranking Atlanta city official was sentenced Thursday to 14 years in prison after a jury found her guilty of charges stemming from a long-running federal investigation into corruption at City Hall. U.S. District Judge Steve Jones told Mitzi Bickers that the evidence showed that she was involved in “a deliberate, calculated plan to cheat” the taxpayers of Atlanta over a number of years. In addition to the prison time, he ordered Bickers to pay nearly $3 million in restitution and to serve three years of supervised release once she's out.
news.yahoo.comIn HBO’s ‘Edge of the Earth,’ the Best Athletes Attempt the Craziest Feats in the Most Remote Places
The four-part Teton Gravity Research series, premiering this week, captures incredible footage of terrifying expeditions, but it succeeds because of the compelling human stories at its heart
outsideonline.comAbrams-backed election lawsuit goes to trial in Georgia
When she ended her first bid to become Georgia governor in 2018, Stacey Abrams announced plans to sue over the way the state's elections were managed. Filed in November 2018 by Abrams' Fair Fight Action organization, the suit alleged that state officials "grossly mismanaged” the election, depriving some citizens, particularly low-income people and people of color, of their right to vote. Jones and other federal judges have been reluctant to order last-minute changes, noting that the Supreme Court has repeatedly said federal judges shouldn’t alter rules “on the eve of an election."
news.yahoo.comCourt indicates it may wait to rule on Georgia abortion law
A federal appeals court seemed to indicate it would wait until the U.S. Supreme Court rules on a case that seeks to overturn its landmark decision guaranteeing a woman’s right to an abortion before ruling on the appeal of a lower court’s ruling blocking a restrictive Georgia abortion law.
Federal judge voids Georgia heartbeat abortion restriction
ATLANTA A federal judge on Monday permanently blocked Georgia's 2019 heartbeat" abortion law, finding that it violates the U.S. Constitution. U.S. District Judge Steve Jones ruled against the state in a lawsuit filed by abortion providers and an advocacy group. Women in Georgia can currently seek an abortion during the first 20 weeks of a pregnancy. The district court blocked Georgias abortion ban, because it violates over 50 years of Supreme Court precedent and fails to trust women to make their own personal decisions," Sean Young said in a statement. In a separate ruling Monday, a U.S. district judge in Tennessee blocked a Tennessee law that Republican Gov.
Federal judge denies bid to restore 98,000 voters in U.S. state of Georgia
(Reuters) - A federal judge on Friday denied an attempt to restore about 98,000 voters in Georgia to the U.S. states electoral rolls after they were removed earlier this month upon being classified as inactive. Lead plaintiff Fair Fight Action, a voting rights nonprofit, did not establish that the Georgia secretary of states decision to cancel the voter registrations had violated the constitution, U.S. District Judge Steve Jones said in the ruling. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger welcomed the decision, saying the state was ensuring that every eligible voter could vote. Today Judge Jones upheld Georgias decision to maintain clean voter rolls, Raffensperger said after the ruling. These include purges of voter rolls and stringent rules requiring signatures on mail-in ballots.
feeds.reuters.comFederal judge temporarily halts Georgia abortion law
AP photo/Evan VucciATLANTA (AP) - A federal judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked Georgia's restrictive new abortion law from taking effect, following the lead of other judges who have blocked similar measures in other states. Lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood and the Center for Reproductive Rights in June filed a constitutional challenge to the law on behalf of Georgia abortion providers and an advocacy group. U.S. District Judge Steve Jones wrote in an order Tuesday that the current laws governing abortion in the state shall remain in effect for the time being. "Today is a tremendous victory for the women of Georgia and for the Constitution," ACLU of Georgia legal director Sean Young said. The law makes exceptions in the case of rape and incest, as long as the woman files a police report first.