Thursday, April 17, 2025
Good morning. This week, we’re reporting on new court documents in the legal saga between the Brunswick district attorney and Glynn County, arguments heard in Georgia’s high court about gun use under the age of 21, plus peacemaker awards for students and volunteers in Savannah.
Questions, comments or story ideas? Reach out to staff@thecurrentga.org.
NEWS: COURTS
Brunswick DA actions under scrutiny
An office without an accountant, an inattentive district attorney and overconfident financial revenue projections helped trigger the nearly $1 million debt owed by the Brunswick Judicial Circuit DA’s office to Glynn County, according to court documents filed by the county.
The Current‘s Jabari Gibbs’ reports how Glynn County’s formal reply last Friday to the legal suit brought by District Attorney Keith Higgins is the latest salvo in the more than year-long battle to balance the DA’s budget and reconcile the books from the largest of the five counties served by Higgins office.
NEWS: COURTS
Guns for those under 21?
Nearly 200 years of legal precedent should not apply to a 20-year-old man who wants to carry a gun, his lawyer argued before the Georgia Supreme Court.
The state’s high court heard arguments this week in a bid to review Georgia’s legal limits on gun carrying for adults under the age of 21.
NEWS: COMMUNITY
☮️ Peacemaker awards
On Wednesday night, the Mediation Center of the Coastal Empire honored Savannah students, volunteers and educators who made their communities safer and more peaceful.
One highlight includes the Positive Peer Influencer program, which places Savannah high schoolers into middle schools to serve as role models on resisting peer pressure. Another is the Peer Mediator program:
“Students have the opportunity to talk through their disputes with the help of trained student mediators. Peer mediators do not take sides or place blame on anyone. They listen to all participants and help the participants to develop their own solution to the conflict,” according to the Mediation Center.
Learn more about the organization’s other youth programming here.
Georgia high court hears Sapelo zoning referendum case
The Georgia Supreme Court heard oral arguments Wednesday about a controversial zoning decision that threatens to change the character of an historic Gullah Geechee enclave in McIntosh County, with residents fearing gentrification and higher taxes.
Glynn County responds to Brunswick DA lawsuit, detailing debt, turmoil
Glynn County has answered a lawsuit by the area DA over funding for the prosecutor’s office. The county’s court filings paint a picture of a dysfunctional office in which overburdened and underqualified staff struggled with budgetary matters.
Georgia Supreme Court reviews legal limits on gun carry for adults under age 21
Georgia’s Supreme Court is considering whether legal restrictions on gun carry for adults under 21 are constitutional, with the plaintiff’s lawyer arguing that the restrictions are rooted in a time before courts began applying a higher standard of strict scrutiny to limit access to guns.
Federal education cuts and Trump DEI demands leave states, teachers in limbo
The U.S. Department of Education has issued an ultimatum to K-12 public schools and state education agencies to certify that they are not engaging in discrimination under the banner of diversity, equity and inclusion, or risk losing federal funding, including billions in support for low-income students.
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