Ga. court upholds partial banishment for offenders
Lawyer Blogs
Faced with the question of whether banishment for criminals in Georgia should be banned, the state's top court answered Monday with its own caveat: It depends on how far the ban extends.
The Georgia Supreme Court acknowledged with its 6-1 decision that banishing convicted criminals from the state is illegal, but it upheld a tactic by judges who ban them from living in all but one of Georgia's 159 counties.
That's what happened to Gregory Mac Terry, who was restricted from living everywhere in Georgia except rural Toombs County after he pleaded guilty in 1995 to charges he assaulted and stalked his estranged wife.
Defense attorneys call the strategy "de facto" banishment. Prosecutors say the orders are a way to rid criminals from populated areas and protect victims from repeat offenses. In Terry's case, they said, the restrictions are needed to protect his wife.
Writing for the majority, Justice Harris Hines said judges can legally skirt the ban on banishment when they restrict convicts like Terry from all but one county.
Related listings
-
Florida prepares for 1st execution since foul up
Lawyer Blogs 06/30/2008Florida's new procedure for lethal injections could be tested Tuesday when executioners strap down a condemned inmate for the first time since a botched execution.Mark Dean Schwab, 39, is scheduled to die exactly 16 years after he was sentenced in th...
-
Summaries of leading Supreme Court rulings
Lawyer Blogs 06/29/2008Brief summaries of the rulings from the leading cases before the Supreme Court in its just-ended term:GUN BANRuled that Americans have a right to own guns for self-defense and hunting. It was the justices' first major pronouncement on gun rights in h...
-
Supreme Court asserts broad gun rights
Lawyer Blogs 06/26/2008Americans have an individual right to possess and use firearms, even when the guns are not related to service in a government militia. In a historic ruling, the US Supreme Court on Thursday declared 5 to 4 that the Second Amendment's guarantee of a r...
Grounds for Divorce in Ohio - Sylkatis Law, LLC
A divorce in Ohio is filed when there is typically “fault” by one of the parties and party not at “fault” seeks to end the marriage. A court in Ohio may grant a divorce for the following reasons:
• Willful absence of the adverse party for one year
• Adultery
• Extreme cruelty
• Fraudulent contract
• Any gross neglect of duty
• Habitual drunkenness
• Imprisonment in a correctional institution at the time of filing the complaint
• Procurement of a divorce outside this state by the other party
Additionally, there are two “no-fault” basis for which a court may grant a divorce:
• When the parties have, without interruption for one year, lived separate and apart without cohabitation
• Incompatibility, unless denied by either party
However, whether or not the the court grants the divorce for “fault” or not, in Ohio the party not at “fault” will not get a bigger slice of the marital property.