Georgia lawmaker slams Mormons, Muslims in one swipe

January 4, 2012 By | Leave a Comment

Rep. Judy ManningRep. Judy Manning of Cobb County talked with the right-leaning Marietta Daily Journal today about her thoughts on Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Having endorsed Georgia’s own Newt Gingrich, there’s no surprise that she doesn’t like Mitt.

So she threw the typical bomb of calling Mitt a flip-flopper. Republicans hate flip-floppers.

But do you know who they hate even more than flip-floppers? Mormons. And who do they hate more than Mormons? Muslims.

Here’s how it all went down in the amazingly honest MDJ interview: [Read more...]

Filed Under: Rep. Judy Manning

Georgia Dems Keep Fighting Redistricting Maps

December 27, 2011 By | Leave a Comment

State Sen. Emanuel JonesIt turns out Georgia’s redistricting battle will be much different from the Texas fight. On Friday, the Department of Justice approved the Republican drawn maps.

The new legislative and Congressional districts do not violate Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, the DOJ said.

The Georgia Legislative Black Caucus will keep fighting, according to WABE. A Federal lawsuit that was running on a parallel path is challenging Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and not Section 5. Section 2 says you can’t have voting practices or rules based on race. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Election Maps, Georgia, State Sen. Emanuel Jones

Some words still carry the sting of oppression

December 26, 2011 By | Leave a Comment
Map of Section 5 Covered Jurisdictions

States covered by Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.

In a move that appears to be unprecedented, the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit overturned a decision it made just over a year ago.

In the original decision, the court ruled that a white manager at a Tyson chicken plant in Gadsden, Ala., didn’t seem to have any racial overtones when he called adult black men working there “boy.”

The majority wrote in a 2-to-1 decision that calling his employees “boy” was “nonracial in context” and that “the usages were conversational.” The court used this logic to overturn a jury verdict of about $1.4 million in an employment discrimination case brought by John Hithon, a black Tyson employee. [Read more...]

Filed Under: 11th Circuit

At least Nathan Deal is not Sonny Perdue

December 26, 2011 By | Leave a Comment

Nathan DealSomething’s wrong with Gov. Nathan Deal’s administration when the best thing you can say about his first year is “His biggest success is in continuing not to be Sonny Perdue.”

That’s the faint praise veteran lobbyist Neill Herring gives Georgia’s chief executive when asked to sum up Deal’s record so far.

Herring lobbies for the Sierra Club and other environmental groups, which had their hands full with Perdue’s inept administration.

Deal’s first days were rough as he wore a sweatshirt to his first press conference to announce that there wasn’t much he could do to help Georgians paralyzed by icy roads. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Elected Officials, Gov. Nathan Deal

Add South Carolina to list of judge-blocked immigration laws

December 23, 2011 By | Leave a Comment

A federal judge in the 11th Circuit has blocked portions of South Carolina’s new immigration law that will take effect Jan. 1.

The sections of the law blocked by U.S. District Judge Richard Gergel are the same ones giving fits to lawmakers in Alabama, Georgia and elsewhere.

One section forces residents to keep their legal paperwork with them. Anyone who looks “illegal” would be required to instantly show documentation of their residency. This is the section that led an Alabama State Trooper to arrest a visiting Mercedes-Benz executive. It’s also the section that causes fear among legal residents who may send off a cops’ itchy foreigner meter. A forgotten wallet could lead to a night in jail. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Immigration, South Carolina

Georgia lawmaker wants to kill fingerprint, background check for gun purchase

December 23, 2011 By | Leave a Comment
Rep. Jason Spencer

Rep. Jason Spencer

In their ongoing effort to use the word ‘Constitutional’ to make any bill seem reasonable, Republicans in Georgia have introduced the “Georgia Constitutional Carry Act of 2012.”

The bill would remove weapons permits from Georgia law, giving Georgians to right to buy firearms like candy. There would be no fingerprints taken and no background checks.

Supporters of similar cookie-cutter bills in other states say they are standing up for “freedom and liberty.” Unfortunately, the real-world impact is just the opposite. It turns out that police don’t trust gun owners in unrestricted carry states and temporarily confiscate guns to run serial numbers through local and national databases. This may or may not be a privacy infringement but it certainly makes the job tougher for cops. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Elected Officials, Georgia, Rep. Jason Spencer

Will Georgia’s maps get the Texas treatment?

December 23, 2011 By | Leave a Comment

Georgia may find out today how tough the election map will be for the next decade.

The deadline for the U.S. Department of Justice to rule on Georgia’s redrawn voting maps is today.

Georgia leaders asked the Justice Department to approve the maps but have also filed a federal lawsuit in U.S. District Court to have them pre-cleared.

In Texas, a Federal Court drew new maps, favoring Democrats, only to see the U.S. Supreme Court block the maps until it can hear the case. The dispute in Texas is rolling into election season.

What’s at stake in Georgia today is whether there will be a prolonged fight or not. If the DOJ clears Georgia’s Republican drawn maps, then the odds of a long fight are slim.

Read more:

Filed Under: Election Maps, Georgia