Georgia Supreme Court
Lawmakers seek sex predator tracking bill that’s constitutional
Georgia legislators aim to close a loophole that’s now preventing the state from using ankle monitors to track more than 400 sex offenders. Some House and Senate lawmakers are backing legislation that would give judges the ability to impose lifetime electronic monitoring as part of someone’s sentence if a sex offender is deemed to have […]
Georgia executes man for 1994 murder, court rejects DNA test plea
A 52-year-old Georgia man was executed late Wednesday night amid mounting pressure for DNA testing on evidence collected more than two decades ago. Ray “Jeff” Cromartie was executed at 10:59 p.m. Wednesday at the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Center in Jackson, where the state’s death row is housed. The execution was carried out after the […]
Condemned man’s lawyers push for DNA test as execution looms tonight
Attorneys for a man whose execution is set for Wednesday evening continue to press for more time for DNA testing as time begins to run out. Ray Jefferson Cromartie, a 52-year-old man convicted of the 1994 murder of a south Georgia store clerk, will die by lethal injection tonight at 7 p.m. unless one of […]
Last gavel closes out an era as Georgia’s high court readies move
When Georgia’s top judicial building opened its bronze doors six decades ago, it did so to an all-white, all-male state Supreme Court. And when the marbled structure wraps up its run as the home of Georgia’s highest courts this year, it will usher along a much more diverse panel to its plush new $132 million […]
Ga. high court declines to block condemned man’s execution
The state’s highest court has rejected a condemned man’s plea to halt his new execution date, which is now set for next Wednesday. On Tuesday, the state Supreme Court unanimously denied 52-year-old Ray Jefferson Cromartie’s request to halt his execution, which was originally scheduled for last week until the same court intervened because of a […]
Ga. high court lets 2018 lieutenant governor election result stand
The Georgia Supreme Court Thursday ruled against a nonprofit’s suit challenging the state’s 2018 lieutenant governor election results, which had significantly fewer votes than other statewide races. The court’s unanimous decision denied an appeal lodged by the Boulder, Colorado-based nonprofit Coalition for Good Governance, finding it didn’t have enough evidence to put the election winner […]
Georgia high court pushes lawmakers to fix sex offender monitoring
Georgia lawmakers are working to update state laws that govern which sex offenders get sentenced to wear ankle monitors for life after the state’s highest court ruled earlier this year that the devices need to come off once an offender’s sentence ends. Time is of the essence, as hundreds of sex offenders deemed dangerous enough […]
State Supreme Court issues stay of execution over procedural issue
Updated at 1:20 p.m. Wednesday The state Supreme Court has delayed the execution of a 52-year-old, who was convicted of a 1994 killing in Thomasville, that had been scheduled for tonight. The court granted a request to temporarily halt the execution of Ray Jefferson Cromartie over a procedural issue, citing the “arguable voidness of the […]
State panel rejects plea to delay execution scheduled for Wednesday
A state panel will not halt the execution of a 52-year-old man convicted of a 1994 killing to allow more time for the federal courts to consider a last-minute request for DNA testing. The state Board of Pardons and Paroles met behind closed doors Tuesday to hear arguments for and against sparing the life of […]
Condemned Ga. inmate pushes for DNA test he says will prove innocence
A final-hour plea to be spared from the death penalty is set to be heard Tuesday as a state board considers whether to halt the execution of a 52-year-old man convicted of killing a store clerk in Thomasville more than two decades ago. Ray Jefferson Cromartie, a Thomasville native, has maintained his innocence through years […]