Georgia Supreme Court Justice Harris Hines spoke to Madison Forum members and guests at the March 31 breakfast meeting. His topic was “Changing Georgia”.
He began by saying that James Madison was responsible for getting George Washington to participate in the Constitutional Convention by telling him – “General, you are the indispensable man”.
He spoke about a court case he was involved in that went to the Georgia Supreme Court and then was appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. The case concerned the ability of police to search a home if one owner says yes and one says no. The Georgia Court’s decision, with Justice Hines in the majority, said yes they could search with one party agreeing. The Supreme Court’s decision was that, no they could not search unless both parties agreed.
Judge Hines quoted a friend who told him in the late 80’s or 90’s that the 21st Century would be the Southern Century. He quoted a number of statistics that approve this to be true. Of the four most populous states, two are in the south – Texas and Florida. Georgia is the 9th most populous state. As of the last census, Georgia population grew by 1.7 million people, and our population today is probably about 9.2 to 9.4 million. The population of Cobb County is bigger than the state of Wyoming. During the 1990s Georgia’s growth was the fourth largest in numeric increase of the 50 states. The percentage increase was 26.4%. There are some predictions that Georgia will grow by 50% in the next 20 years.
As a result of the 2000 census, Georgia gained two members of Congress. At the same time, two more populous states, New York and Pennsylvania, each lost two members of Congress.
Of the ten largest banks in assets in the U.S., five are headquartered in southern states. Four are headquartered in North Carolina, and one – SunTrust – is in Georgia.
To illustrate growth by profession, Judge Hines said the Georgia Bar Exam is given twice a year, and slightly over 50% of the people taking the bar exam in Georgia graduated from an out-of-state law school. He feels this indicates that Georgia is an attractive state for professionals.
The most watched news channel is CNN, which is headquartered in Atlanta. And the most recognized world-wide company, Coca Cola, Is also headquartered in Atlanta.
Judge Hines said he feels that the principle pillar of our air defense for the next 20 to 50 years will be the F-22 Raptor interceptor jet which is made here in Cobb County at Lockheed.
The most popular hand gun used by law enforcement in this country is the Glock, and the company’s U.S. headquarters is in Smyrna.
Judge Hines said that despite the downturn in the housing market, he feels that Georgia’s economy will continue to grow.
He went on to speak about the good things happening in education. In 2001 the average SAT score for entering freshmen in Georgia Tech was 1321. At the University of Georgia, the score was 1201. Judge Hines attributes this to the HOPE Scholarship. Prior to the HOPE Scholarship of those who made between 1500 and 1600, 23% stayed in Georgia to get their advanced degrees. Since the HOPE Scholarship 76% stay in the state of Georgia and go to a college or university. He said he thinks this speaks extremely well for our state. He went on to say that where there is a difficulty is in our high schools. In our public high schools we only have slightly more than 50% who enter a public school in the ninth grade get a regular four year high school diploma. This is one of the worst statistics of the 50 states.
Some of the issues Judge Hines thinks will be seen in courts include faith based initiatives in education, because of the issues in high schools, and educators are looking for alternatives. The arguments that will come to the legislature will be based on what can be done on a basis of separation of church and state.
Another issue already in the courts is the question of whether or not a person could serve on a jury without being a Georgia or U.S. citizen, along with other issues about what a non-citizen can or cannot do. Another issue is, must the Miranda warning be given in the language of the person being arrested. Another issue is the implied consent.
Another issue Judges Hines says will be revisited will be the death penalty. He said he has presided over three such cases, gavel to gavel. The only body that can determine the death penalty is a jury. Some of the questions coming up will be, what does life without parole really mean considering factors such as age and cost. Small counties can’t afford the costs of felony trials. Another aspect is litigation from prisons, charging cruel and unusual punishment, considering our burgeoning prison population. In 1983 Georgia’s prison population was 15,209. In 1993 prison population was 27,762; in 2003, 46,981, and now it’s over 50,000 people. 50 to 51% of the present prison population has never worked. The job of trying to rehabilitate people with little education, no work experience, and getting older is an almost impossible task.
Another issue Judge Hines sees coming up is judicial elections. In Georgia judges run non-partisan. The Georgia Constitution of 1983 for most all courts of record has judges running non-partisan races. The Court of Appeals, and the Supreme Court have six year terms. The principle trial court, the Superior Court has four year terms. The state courts have four year terms. The last time there were partisan elections was in 1982. Judge Hines says his understanding is that the Republican caucus in the State House has said that they were not going to extend non-partisan races down to any judgeships that are not there. A Supreme Court case - Republican Party of Minnesota v White - and an 11th Circuit Court of Appeals case – Weaver v Bonner heard in Atlanta have dramatically changed how we see judicial elections. The decisions essentially said they do not favor judicial elections, but if you are going to have judicial elections, they are going to be pretty much like anything else. So, candidates will probably cast themselves as non-partisan Democrat or non-partisan Republican.
A resolution was introduced in this year’s legislature that Judge Hines doesn’t think will go anywhere. The resolution calls for one Supreme Court Justice from every congressional district in Georgia, which would give us 13 – more than the U. S. Supreme Court. But what happens if we pick up another district in the next census, or what if we lose a member of Congress. He says he doesn’t think it has much traction from either party.
He said he missed on decisions concerning campaign contributions, and on imminent domain and condemnation of private property for public use. He said he felt it was right for the Supreme Court to decide in the case of Gore v Bush because it was of such magnitude.
Judge Hines said that he feels the most significant problem affecting our state and nationally, it is births to unwed mothers. It is a synonym for poverty. The national average is about 37 %. In Georgia it’s probably close to 39%, and it continues to grow. 78% of the 13,000 children who go through the doors of the Fulton County Juvenal Court in a year don’t know who their fathers are or where they are. He quoted a statement from David Blankenhorn, an expert in this field, who said “The single most accurate predictor of criminal activity is – is there a father in the house”.