A federal appeals court has asked attorneys on both sides of a challenge to Georgia’s heartbeat law to file additional documents following last week’s Supreme Court ruling that overturned Roe v Wade.
Reproductive rights groups and abortion providers sued the state after passage of the Georgia law in 2019. A federal judge struck down the law which was then appealed and sent to the federal appeals court where it has remained as that court waited for the Supreme Court to issue its ruling. On Friday, Georgia’s attorney general filed paperwork asking judges to allow the law to go into effect. Once attorneys file the briefs, the federal appeals court could uphold Georgia’s law or the three-judge panel could return the case to U.S. District Judge Steve Jones in Atlanta, who struck down the statute two years ago.
Attorneys have until July 15 to submit the filings.
ACCPD files charges in opioid death of 15 month old child
An Elberton woman has been charged in the death of a 15 month old Athens child.
The child had been taken to a local hospital, and then transferred to Children’s Hospital of Georgia in Augusta which contacted police to report the child had been exposed to fentanyl, opiates and Benzodiazepine before she died on June 25th.
According to a Tuesday morning press release from Athens-Clarke County Police, Pamala Graves, 59, has been charged with Felony Murder and Possession of a Schedule II Controlled Substance.
Madison County man arrested in possible drug-related murder
A 19 year old man has been charged with shooting and killing a teenager from Hull. Anglow Walton, also from Hull, is accused of killing Corey Chatham who lived in a subdivision off Highway 29.
In addition to aggravated assault and murder, Walton is charged with the sale and distribution of marijuana. Police indicated that drugs may have played a role in the shooting. Deputies arrived at the home on Fenway Drive where they found Chatham, who had been severely wounded, lying on the ground. He died later at a hospital in Atlanta.
Walton surrendered to police in Fulton County where he was interviewed and then transferred to the Madison County Jail.