The Georgia state legislature advanced SB 189 Thursday, which contains new rules on which presidential candidates can appear on the state ballot and probable cause to challenge voter registration ahead of the 2024 elections. Under the proposed law, presidential candidates can appear on the state ballot if their political party “has obtained ballot access in [...]
Search Results for: Georgia
A panel of federal judges in South Carolina issued an order Thursday reinstating a congressional map that was declared unconstitutional racial gerrymander in 2023 due to concerns that it would be impractical to adopt a new map so close to the 2024 election season. In their five-page opinion, the three-judge panel, all appointed by Democrat [...]
Explainer: Supreme Court Prepares for Oral Arguments in Latest Reproductive Rights Case
The US Supreme Court hears arguments Tuesday in a case concerning the authorization and regulation of the abortion pill mifepristone at a time when reproductive rights are at the heart of political division and changing policies across the nation. At the center of the case is the Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine’s lawsuit against the Food [...]
Georgia ruling party introduces bill restricting LGBTQ+ rights ahead of elections
The governing Georgian Dream party announced a controversial bill on Monday aimed at curbing LGBTQ+ rights in the Transcaucasian country. The bill aims to combat what the party has called “LGBT propaganda” and proposes significant changes to the constitution. It seeks to prohibit sex changes, adoption by same-sex couples and gatherings promoting same-sex relationships. Observers [...]
Recently, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC or Red Cross) has been accused of facilitating payments to accused terrorists captured and held by Israel in the ongoing Hamas-Israel conflict. The ICRC denies this claim. The ICRC has a blemished record, disturbingly far from its professed humanitarian mandate. A journalistic investigation conducted by ProPublica [...]
Georgia House advances bill barring Chinese 'agents' from owning farm and military-adjacent land
A Republican-sponsored bill that banned any Chinese “agent” from purchasing farmland or land near military installations passed the Georgia House of Representatives on Thursday. The vote was 97-67 along party lines. Republican representatives have argued the bill will help further national security. They claimed that land owned by people affiliated with China could pose a [...]
The Cost of Revenge: A Cantor's Critique of Israel's Response to Hamas
In the wake of the deadly Hamas terrorist attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, many of Israel’s supporters, myself included, have succumbed to the understandable impulse for violent retribution. Israel is a land that I love, both culturally as a Jew — and third-generation Holocaust survivor — and spiritually as an ordained cantor. It follows that [...]
The Georgia House of Representatives passed a bill on Wednesday prohibiting companies that benefit from state economic development incentives from recognizing unions without first conducting formal secret-ballot elections. The bill, Senate Bill 362, now awaits Governor Brian Kemp’s signature to become law in the state. The bill has sparked debate regarding its compliance with federal [...]
Georgia to go forward with first execution in more than 4 years after parole board denies clemency
The Georgia Parole Board denied clemency for inmate Willie James Pye on Tuesday, making him soon to be the first inmate executed in the state since 2020. Pye was convicted and sentenced to death in 1996 after the murder of Alicia Lynn Yarbough, with whom he was involved in a relationship. During the clemency meeting [...]
As Georgia Prepares to Execute Willie Pye, a Deceased Lawyer’s Incompetence Looms
It is hard to imagine a man much more marginalized than Willie Pye, who Georgia plans to execute on Mar. 20. Undeniably, the 1993 murder that landed him on death row was heinous. But as his death march nears, it bears considering whether the converging histories of poverty and abuse that defined his youth, paired [...]