So I realize I've been slack on the blog since Thankgivingish.  Sorry about that. 

But the Georgia General Assembly will begin session next Monday, and so I figured what better time to get back on the horse.  There will be a lot to follow this year.  Stay tuned; to the extent feasible we are going to attempt to follow the live online coverage and keep you up to date with what's going on.  We'll also provide some analysis from time to time. 

The Georgia Supreme Court ruled today that O.C.G.A. 42-1-15, the sex offender registry residence restriction provision that prevents sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of certain facilities where children congregate (including schools and child care facilities), is an unconstitutional regulatory taking.  The court found it signficant that the provision has the effect of a complete taking, since a home purchased solely for the purpose of a residence for a sex offender cannot be used as such if it violates the provision.  Additionally the court was bothered by the fact that the statute has no exception for those who "move to the offender" by locating a facility within 1000 feet of the offender after he purchases the home, as happened in this case.  Furthermore, since registered offenders have to make their residence location public, individuals or organizations can intentionally force offenders out of an area by moving within 1000 feet of them.

Happy Halloween everyone.  In recognition of the day, we have done a Casemaker search of Georgia case law for "Halloween".  The search produces 35 cases.  Here is an excerpt from my favorite, which involved a Halloween fraternity party at Mercer:

Rigdon was invited to attend the party by a KA member, Adam Montgomery, and by her roommate, who was a member of another hosting fraternity. Shortly after Rigdon arrived at the party, she found Montgomery. Rigdon and Montgomery danced and then went outside and had an alcoholic drink that Montgomery served from the trunk of his car. Later in the evening, while Rigdon and Montgomery were standing beside the dance floor, a woman wearing a pink tube top, later identified as Amy Ussery, inexplicably threw a cold drink on them.

The Georgia Supreme Court has ruled that Genarlow Wilson's 10-year sentence for engaging in oral sex with a 15-year-old while he was 17 years old is cruel and unusual punishment.  You can read the press release here and the opinion here.  The news was initially broken on Tondee's Tavern last night.  We will have more detailed discussion later after having a chance to digest the opinion ourselves.

You can read earlier Georgia Law Blog coverage of this case in the archives here.

The families of those injured and killed when a Bluffton University baseball team bus plunged off of an overpass and on to I-75 in Atlanta last March have filed the required anti litem notice with the Georgia Department of Transportation, letting the government know that the families may sue.  From the AJC:

Ohio attorney Matthew Bruder, who is representing nine students and two coaches, said the hope is that matters can be resolved without filing suits.  He said he was negoiating with various insurance carriers.

The state's maximum liability in the incident is $3 million.

At the same time that the Brian Nichols' jury is being picked, a Nevada jury is being picked to try Darren Mack, who is accused of shooting a Reno judge who was handling his divorce. 

The Reno judge was shot in June 2006, a little over a year after the Nichols' shooting.

Mack is being tried in Las Vegas after a Reno judge moved the case because of pretrial publicity.