WABE’s Week In Review: Lawmakers start changing Georgia’s voting districts and defense in the Brunswick murder trial ask for no more Black pastors
A map redrawing the lines for all 180 Georgia House districts is now awaiting Gov. Brian Kemp’s signature.
IMPORTANT Georgia Redistricting Update: The State Senate passes the proposed State House map. The vote was 32-21 with one Republican voting against it, Matt Brass.
2 Democrats and 1 Republican were excused.
The new Georgia House map now goes to the Governor’s desk. #gapolga pic.twitter.com/ITj4sZyYks
— Rahul Bali (@rahulbali) November 12, 2021
“There are a lot of things wrong with this maps from violations to traditional redistricting principles through Voting Rights Act concerns for when majority-minority districts must or should not be drawn,” said Democratic State Senator Elena Parent. “And concerns about packing and cracking and allowing communities to elect the candidate of their choice.”
The Republican-drawn maps would allow the GOP to keep control of the state House by giving up a handful of seats to Democrats while making other districts more conservative.
The Georgia House still has to approve the proposed State Senate map. And both bodies need to agree on a plan to redraw Georgia’s 14 Congressional districts.
Republican lawmakers say the maps follow voting rights laws.
Focusing on Gwinnett…
Witnesses, objections and one race-based (legally baseless) move…
The trial of the three men accused of killing Ahmaud Arbery in Brunswick heard more from the state’s case this week. Witnesses — mostly law enforcement — talked about the scene that day as jurors saw graphic images of Arbery after the shooting.
Arbery was killed in February 2020, but it wasn’t until video of the incident went viral and national outcry sparked an arrest of the men involved: Travis McMichael, Gregory McMichael and William Bryan. The murder trial is not touching on the delay and alleged coverup after the killing.
Glynn County Police Officer Robert Rash told jurors he had responded to a number of calls about alleged trespassers in the neighborhood. Prosecutors asked whether he’d ever deputized defendants Greg or Travis McMichael. He told her “no.”
The McMichaels claim they were trying to make a citizens arrest of Arbery when Travis shot him. Witnesses and police video show none of the men saw Arbery doing anything the day they chased him and as Gregory McMichael said in one of the videos the men had Arbery “trapped like a rat.”
Meanwhile, Bryan’s attorney drew criticism for a comment he made while the jury was out of the room. In a move that was ridiculed by even his own co-counsel, Gough called for the court to limit the number of Black pastors in the court after Rev. Al Sharpton briefly sat with the Arbery family.
“Obviously there’s only so many pastors they can have,” Gough said. “And if their pastor’s Al Sharpton right now that’s fine, but then that’s it. We don’t want any more Black pastors coming in here … sitting with the victim’s family, trying to influence the jurors in this case.”
Travis McMichael’s attorney, Jason Sheffield, called the motion by Gough “asinine.”
Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley said no one had broken court rules and that he wasn’t going to ban members of the public from the trial.
“I will let the court note that if my statements yesterday were overly broad, I will follow up with a more specific motion on Monday, putting those concerns in the proper context,” Gough said a day later. “And my apologies to anyone who might have inadvertently been offended.”
Not in my backyard…
Atlanta’s NPUs were not excited about the city’s proposed changes to residential parking requirements and single-family zoning. Out of 25, 18 voted against. https://t.co/pA4dn7YKyn
— Stephannie Stokes (@stephannnnie) November 8, 2021
Also in this episode…
—We look more at a Federal Court law clerk with an alleged history of racist texts.
–We hear from Atlanta’s mayoral candidates in the runoff about affordable housing and how to prevent the rash of evictions in the city.
–Molly Samuel has more on the push to protect the alligator snapping turtle.
For a deeper exploration of Ahmaud Arbery’s story, listen to WABE’s podcast, “Buried Truths.” Hosted by journalist, professor, and Pulitzer-prize-winning author Hank Klibanoff, season three of “Buried Truths” explores the Arbery murder and its direct ties to racially motivated murders of the past in Georgia.
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