Local representatives react to the MLBâs decision to move the 2021 All-Star game from Atlanta
Local representatives react to the MLBâs decision to move the 2021 All-Star game from Atlanta By Bria Bolden | April 4, 2021 at 11:10 PM EDT - Updated April 4 at 11:36 PM
CHATHAM COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC) - Lawmakers continue to weigh in after Major League Baseball made the controversial decision to move the 2021 All-Star Game out of Atlanta.
Major Georgia-based companies and corporations like Coca-Cola, Delta Airlines and others have voiced concerns alongside the MLB saying the new Georgia election law would disenfranchise people of color at the polls.
Congressman Buddy Carter (R-GA1) and Georgia state Representative Derek Mallow (D-163) shared their reactions to the move, as Georgia businesses could lose millions in revenue from the decision.
By JOSHUA SHARPE | The Atlanta Journal-Constitution | Published: March 11, 2021 (Tribune News Service) Efforts to compensate three former U.S. Army soldiers wrongful convicted of murder cleared the state House this week with near unanimous approval. The trio of bills, which now head to the state Senate for consideration, would pay Mark Jones, Kenny Gardiner and Dominic Lucci $1 million each. The money would help with the struggles they face after 25 years in prison for a Savannah murder before the Georgia Supreme Court unanimously tossed their convictions in late 2017. The men work constantly, doing often grueling labor, and can t even afford to take time off for therapy.
Every good trial lawyer is an expert at repeating one phrase: “I object.”
Even so, Chatham County District Attorney Shalena Cook Jones’ recent objection to a parole reform proposal was as befuddling to the public as the legal language in website terms of service agreements. Georgia House Bill 168, introduced by local lawmaker Jesse Petrea and passed by the House last month, is meant to assist prosecutors in challenging the early release of violent felons.
The bill, now being considered by the Senate, is specific to the worst of the worst, such as murderers, rapists, child molesters, kidnappers the criminals that Cook Jones and her colleagues spend so much time and energy to put behind bars.
District attorneys could gain access to the disciplinary files of state inmates accused of violent crimes who are up for a parole after a bill from a Savannah representative cleared the Georgia House floor last week.
The bill, HB168, passed 99-66 on Feb. 18 and was read and referred to the Senate’s public safety committee. Chatham County District Attorney Shalena Cook-Jones has raised concerns about the bill and describes it as “problematic.”
“It enlarges prosecutorial power unnecessarily and creates too much potential for abuse and discriminatory application,” Cook-Jones said in an emailed statement to the Savannah Morning News.
Lead sponsor of the bill, Rep. Jesse Patrea (R-Savannah), said it is intended to allow district attorneys to see the file of an inmate who is up for parole and offer any objections. The bill stems from the case of Torrey Scott, a serial rapist who murdered one of his victims after being released from prison on earl