– Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024 –
Good morning. In this week’s newsletter, we’re reporting on the challenges voters face trying to judge performance in the Chatham district attorney election, the continued frustrations and devastations resulting from Helene along the coast, and the damning Department of Justice report about Georgia’s prison system.
Questions, comments or story ideas? Reach out to us at staff@thecurrentga.org. Let’s dive in.
INVESTIGATIVE: COURTS
Chatham justice data disappoints
In most jobs employees are reviewed for promotions or firings based upon their performance.
But when it comes to the job of district attorney in Chatham County, voters are unable to find statistics to measure the performance of incumbent district attorney, Shalena Cook Jones.
An investigation by The Current found that one of the most basic prosecutorial statistics, the conviction rate, is not properly tracked by Cook Jones’ office. The vacuum of this performance measure and others like it has been seized on by critics of the incumbent district attorney, such as Republican challenger Andre Pretorius. He gathered his own statistics, which also leave a lot to be desired.
The problem, which Cook Jones says is due to outdated data collection software, is compounded by how other crime data hubs in the county impede regular citizens from compiling statistics on the justice system.
NEWS: PUBLIC SAFETY
Helene’s continued impacts
The slow restoration of power in Coastal Georgia not only continues to frustrate residents but also seems to be leading to deadly consequences.
The Chatham County Coroner’s office is investigating the death of a family of three on Tuesday who died of possible carbon monoxide poisoning “due to a gas generator in the residence,” the coroner wrote in a news release.
Arbelio Reyes, 41, Febiola Setina, 39 and Oswaldo Reyes, 13 were pronounced dead at their home near Chatham Parkway on Tuesday, Coroner David Campbell stated.
NOTE: FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, warns not to run generators indoors or in partially-indoor areas: “Carbon monoxide from generators is completely colorless and odorless, so you won’t know if it’s there.”
As of Wednesday late afternoon, approximately 24,000 households across Effingham, Chatham, Bryan, Liberty, McIntosh, Glynn and Camden counties do not have power, according to The Current‘s count of three electric cooperatives that serve the area.
Two counties trail Chatham for most power outages: Bryan and Effingham. However, both counties were inexplicably left off a list of counties eligible to claim disaster relief by the Biden administration.
NEWS: COURTS
DOJ: Georgia prisons violate constitutional rights
Georgia’s prison system is so unsafe for inmates that their constitutional rights are likely being violated, a bombshell report from the Department of Justice found this week.
After people who committed crimes in Georgia are sentenced to state facilities, they are subject to rampant violence while the state and Georgia Department of Corrections remains “deliberately indifferent to these unsafe conditions,” the DOJ report stated.
The DOJ investigation started in 2016 looking into how LGBTQ+ inmates are vulnerable to abuse in Georgia but expanded in 2021 as the system’s many problems exploded into public view.
The report raises important questions for public safety in Georgia. Violence and crime within prisons make it harder for inmates to rehabilitate, and the upwards of 5,000 that are paroled each year will bear the scars of a harmful system.
Chatham district attorney candidates throw barbs over effectiveness
Chatham County district attorney does not track basic prosecutor statistic. Vacuum of reliable information made it impossible for voters to find objective information to weigh candidates in the race.
Federal probe finds deplorable conditions inside Georgia prisons
Georgia prison system fails to protect inmates from violence, violating constitutional rights, federal probe finds in report.
Biden approves major disaster declaration for Georgia Helene damage
Work crews for Georgia Power and the state’s Electric Membership Corporations (EMCs) reported that about 370,000 customers were still without electricity as of Monday. More then 1.3 million lost power at Helene’s peak.
Coastal emergency managers take stock of Helene’s damage
Despite multiple tornado warnings during the storm, there was no confirmed tornado touchdown in Chatham County.
Ports of Savannah and Brunswick at standstill as workers strike
Maritime traffic has come to a halt at the Port of Savannah, the East Coast’s second-busiest port, as a dockworkers’ union and an alliance of port employers failed to reach a new contract Monday night.
Judge rules Georgia’s restrictive abortion law unconstitutional
In ruling, McBurney says heart isn’t fully formed and can’t be used as a guide at 6 weeks.
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