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Byline: Bill Rankin A state court judge Wednesday denied condemned inmate Donnie Lance's request to stay his execution scheduled to take place Jan. 29. Lance's lawyers had asked Butts County [...]

Byline: Bill Rankin If it takes place as planned on Thursday, the execution of Jimmy Meders will be attended by the prison warden, medical personnel, witnesses and one perverse irony. [...]

Byline: Bill Rankin A condemned killer from Gwinnett County has sued Georgia's prison system, saying he should be executed by firing squad because his veins are so narrow that an [...]

Byline: Bill Rankin BRUNSWICK -- A Glynn County judge on Wednesday denied DNA testing of a murder weapon that lawyers for condemned inmate Jimmy Meders contend will show he did [...]

Byline: Bill Rankin As Georgia prepares to carry out its first execution of 2020, lawyers for death row inmate Jimmy Meders say DNA tests will show he was not the [...]

Byline: Bill Rankin A lawsuit filed by a man who said he was injured when an Atlanta police officer allegedly slammed him to the ground and then arrested him without [...]

Byline: Bill Rankin The message from the Georgia Supreme Court's two leading justices to the state attorney general's office was loud and clear: We have grave concerns about this murder [...]

Byline: Bill Rankin Three judges on the federal appeals court in Atlanta on Thursday peppered lawyers with questions in a case that could set an important precedent for bathroom access [...]

Byline: Bill Rankin Georgia Supreme Court Justice Robert Benham, the first African American to serve on the state's highest court, announced Thursday he will step down from the bench on [...]

Byline: Bill Rankin Who owns the law in Georgia? On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court will take up that question as the justices consider whether the annotated version of Georgia [...]

Byline: Bill Rankin Kee-eeeee-arr!!!!!!! The screech is as unmistakable as it is arresting. It comes from a red-tailed hawk. The distinctive two-to three-second long shriek is often used as a [...]

Byline: Bill Rankin A former metro Atlanta medical examiner who helped solve thousands of homicide cases died Friday while serving a prison term for a criminal scheme that brought a [...]

Byline: Bill Rankin The city of Clarkston prides itself on welcoming refugees and immigrants, but its court system uses unlawful practices that violate the rights of members of that population, [...]

Byline: Bill Rankin The bitter family feud over the multibillion-dollar Rollins fortune, in which four siblings sued their father and uncle, came to an end Tuesday in a Fulton County [...]

Byline: Bill Rankin COMMERCE -- For two decades, Donnie Lance has been a devoted father, dispensing advice to and being a sounding board for his 30-year-old son and 34-year-old daughter. [...]

Byline: Bill Rankin President Donald Trump has appointed yet another judge to the influential federal appeals court in Atlanta. On Wednesday, Trump nominated U.S. District Judge Andrew Brasher of Montgomery [...]

Byline: Bill Rankin The Cobb County prosecutor who obtained the conviction in a 2016 hot-car murder trial that generated national media coverage will be the next director of the state's [...]

Byline: Bill Rankin The Georgia Supreme Court on Monday disbarred an Atlanta civil rights lawyer known for his outspoken opposition to capital punishment and racial bias in the criminal justice [...]

Byline: Bill Rankin The Georgia Supreme Court on Thursday sent a pointed message to Fulton County prosecutors who'd appealed a murder conviction that had been overturned: Stop wasting precious resources, [...]

Byline: Bill Rankin A Marietta man sent to death row 33 years ago deserves a new sentencing hearing because his jury was given 'a profoundly misleading picture' of who he [...]

Byline: Bill Rankin The Georgia Supreme Court on Monday said more judicial review is required before it can be determined if the Atlanta Botanical Garden can prohibit visitors from carrying [...]

Byline: Bill Rankin Over the past two decades, gays and lesbians have won enormous U.S. Supreme Court victories that pulled the LGBTQ community ever closer to legal equality. The court [...]

Byline: Bill Rankin Two state Supreme Court justices Thursday issued extraordinary opinions in which they openly questioned the imprisonment of a man convicted of the armed robbery and murder of [...]

Byline: Bill Rankin Former state Republican lawmaker Beth Beskin is now the third candidate running for a seat on the state's highest court. Beskin announced Thursday she has entered the [...]

Byline: Bill Rankin President Donald Trump has yet another seat to fill on the federal appeals court in Atlanta, giving him the chance to appoint almost half of the court's [...]

Byline: Bill Rankin The Cobb County attorney who successfully prosecuted the high-profile hot-car death case has agreed to take on cases against two judges accused of misconduct, the chairman of [...]

Byline: Bill Rankin The big, enthusiastic crowds reinforce the historical significance of the swearing-in ceremonies. In recent months, Gov. Brian Kemp has attended investiture ceremonies of African Americans he's appointed [...]

Byline: Bill Rankin Prosecutors use their discretion at many critical points of a criminal case, such as deciding whether to obtain an indictment, what plea deals should be offered and, [...]

Byline: Bill Rankin Courthouses across Georgia are still reeling from the cyberattack early this summer that infiltrated the state judicial system's computer network. With no electronic access to criminal cases [...]

Byline: Bill Rankin The state Supreme Court is considering whether Johnny Lee Gates deserves a new trial for a 1976 murder because DNA test results strongly suggest someone else may [...]

Byline: Bill Rankin In the spring of 2016, a cyberthief calling himself the 'Dark Overlord' hacked into the databases of a Clarke County medical clinic and emerged with the personal [...]

Byline: Bill Rankin President Donald Trump has a new seat to fill on the influential federal appeals court in Atlanta. This week, Judge Gerald Tjoflat, the longest-serving active federal appeals [...]

Byline: Bill Rankin Major League Baseball argued on Tuesday that it cannot be held liable in a lawsuit filed by a woman whose husband fell to his death during an [...]

Byline: Bill Rankin An inmate who contends DNA test results show he was wrongly convicted of a South Georgia murder can continue pursuing his bid to win a new trial, [...]

Byline: Bill Rankin One bludgeoned a prison guard to death. One raped and killed a nurse practitioner. Another fatally stabbed a postal worker. The three men, sentenced to death by [...]

Byline: Bill Rankin Calling the conditions 'repulsive,' a federal judge on Tuesday ordered Fulton County to take immediate steps to improve the treatment of women with mental illness being held [...]

Byline: Bill Rankin Over the past eight years, Georgia transformed its criminal justice system. Its reforms, aimed at cutting prison costs while improving public safety, encouraged other states to enact [...]

Byline: Bill Rankin The federal appeals court in Atlanta has dismissed a case in which a Coffee County deputy fired a gunshot at a family's dog but missed and struck [...]