Georgia
U.S. Supreme Court immunity ruling likely further delays Fulton racketeering case • Georgia Recorder
A U.S. Supreme Court decision Monday establishing a legal standard for presidential immunity could further slow down Georgia’s 2020 presidential election interference case, several legal experts predict.
The nation’s highest court ruling Monday shields U.S. presidents from criminal prosecution while engaging in “official” conduct related to their “core constitutional” presidential acts and removes immunity if the conduct is unrelated to their “unofficial” responsibilities. The ruling is in response to a federal election interference case brought by the U.S. Department of Justice against Trump, who is accused of allegedly plotting to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
According to the majority opinion written by Chief Justice John Roberts, Trump’s claim of blanket presidential immunity was rejected and a legal test was established as to what type of presidential conduct is protected under the U.S. Constitution.
Several other pending criminal cases against Trump will be affected by Monday’s ruling, including a case in Fulton County Superior Court where Trump and 14 co-defendants are accused of committing felonies while conspiring to rig the 2020 presidential election.
The Supreme Court decision is another blow to the already minimal chances of jury selection in the Fulton election interference case beginning prior to the Nov. 5 presidential election. The fight over immunity is expected to draw out the case into 2025, with multiple court motions and appeals taking place, according to Anthony Michael Kreis, a law professor at Georgia State University.
The Supreme Court ruling doesn’t directly impact Trump’s co-defendants in Georgia, which include several members of Trump’s inner circle, former Trump attorneys, and other Republican allies. Four of his indicted co-defendants pleaded guilty last year reached agreements with prosecutors that will let them avoid jail time if they cooperate as state witnesses.
Legal experts say two of the eight the acts detailed in DOJ indictment could be significantly impacted by the Supreme Court’s decision.
Kreis also said it’s likely that several of the key Trump’s interactions listed in the Fulton indictment, including a post-election phone call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, will be considered outside the scope of presidential authority.
“The Supreme Court’s decision on presidential immunity makes state prosecutions of presidents for unlawful acts to subvert a presidential election even more important now because the evidence from state prosecutions will be focused on extra-federal executive conduct,” Kreis wrote on X Monday.
The way in which the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling is applied in the Justice Department’s Washington D.C. election interference case could serve as a template for the Fulton County case, according to legal experts.
Fulton Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee will have to determine whether Trump’s interactions with federal and state officials are protected from criminal prosecution as official presidential duties.
In both the DOJ and Fulton cases, Trump is accused of illegally pressuring Raffensperger in January 2021 to overturn Georgia’s election results and of obstructing the certification of the election by arranging for a false slate of Republican electors to meet in December 2020 to vote for Trump.
Previous federal court rulings in Georgia can give some guidance as U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan holds hearings to determine how immunity will be applied in Trump’s D.OJ. case, according to CNN analyst Norm Eisen, who served as legal counsel in the first impeachment trial of Trump.
Last year, Atlanta-based federal Judge Steve Jones rejected requests from Fulton co-defendants, former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, who wanted their case moved to federal court under claims they were acting in their official roles as federal officers.
Jones ruled Clark and Meadows’ criminal charges weren’t related to their federal jobs, including Meadows’ role in setting up the infamous Trump recorded phone call with Georgia’s election chief several weeks after the 2020 election.
“The issues at play in the Georgia removal proceedings are strikingly similar to the ones Chutkan will be forced to consider with respect to Trump,” Eisen wrote Monday’s opinion column published by CNN. “The Supreme Court has explicitly directed Chutkan to determine whether Trump’s interactions with state officials and private parties were official and left open the door for her to hold hearings over allegations that involved Pence, too.”
”Chutkan can give both parties the opportunity to develop facts supporting their competing positions and then make her ruling on immunity, ensuring that Trump continues to receive due process throughout,“ Eisen said.
The Fulton case is on hold while the Georgia Court of Appeals reviews McAfee’s decision to reject defense attorneys’ arguments that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis should be removed from the case because her romantic relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade constituted prosecutorial misconduct. Willis hired Wade to lead the probe in November 2021 and she contends the relationship started after they started working on the case.
In August, a Fulton County grand jury indicted Trump and 18 others for allegedly conspiring to overturn the 2020 Georgia presidential election results. President Joe Biden’s win was confirmed by multiple recounts and audits, and all court challenges to the result were unsuccessful.
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Georgia
Why Southern Living is spotlighting serene coastal escape in Georgia
22 sea turtles released into the ocean at Jekyll Island
Mystic Aquarium, a Connecticut-based aquarium and animal rescue organization, released 22 sea turtles into the Ocean at Jekyll Island.
A quiet stretch of the Georgia coast is back in the national spotlight.
In a recent feature, Southern Living highlighted the Golden Isles as one of the South’s most serene escapes, praising the region’s undeveloped marshes, barrier islands and slower pace compared to other East Coast beach destinations.
Located roughly halfway between Savannah and Jacksonville, the Golden Isles include Brunswick, Sea Island, St. Simons Island, Jekyll Island and Little St. Simons Island.
Here’s what to know.
What makes Georgia’s Golden Isles different?
Unlike more densely developed beach towns in neighboring states, Georgia’s coastline is defined by tidal creeks, salt marshes and wide stretches of protected land.
“The coast of Georgia is quite different than the shores of North Carolina or South Carolina,” Southern Living wrote. “It’s wilder and quieter, and it’s much less populated with beach towns.”
While the islands offer modern resorts and vacation homes, much of the natural character remains intact.
One of the most photographed spots is Driftwood Beach on Jekyll Island, known for its haunting remains of a maritime forest scattered along the shoreline.
Where are visitors staying?
The publication pointed to several well-known properties across the islands:
- The Cloister at Sea Island
- Jekyll Island Club Resort
- St. Simons Island: The Grey Owl Inn and the St. Simons Lighthouse.
Little St. Simons Island, accessible only by boat, was highlighted for its all-inclusive lodge and thousands of acres of protected marshland and upland habitat.
What can you do in the Golden Isles?
Southern Living emphasized simple, immersive experiences:
- Biking under live oaks
- Kayaking through marsh creeks
- Horseback riding along the beach
- Watching sunsets over the water.
Public beaches like East Beach on St. Simons Island remain open to visitors, while golf courses on Jekyll Island and St. Simons offer year-round play.
The region’s history also plays a major role. Visitors can climb the St. Simons Lighthouse, explore historic districts in Brunswick or learn about Gullah Geechee heritage through local organizations.
For more information, visit southernliving.com/georgias-golden-isles-11906085.
Vanessa Countryman is the Trending Topics Reporter for the Deep South Connect Team Georgia. Email her at Vcountryman@gannett.com.
Georgia
Gov. Kemp signs amended FY 2026 budget, delivering $2B in Georgia tax relief
ATLANTA, Ga. — Georgia Governor Brian P. Kemp on Tuesday signed HB 973, the amended Fiscal Year 2026 budget.
The amended budget includes $2 billion in income and property tax relief, alongside investments in education, public safety, mental health, transportation and rural development.
Lt. Gov. Burt Jones praised Gov. Kemp, saying the budget…
“Makes critical investments in middle-class families, mental health services, healthcare workforce development, transportation and Georgia’s veterans community.”
Key allocations in the amended budget include:
- Education and Workforce Development: $325 million to endow the DREAMS Scholarship, a new needs-based scholarship program; $6 million for a Career Navigator tool; and funding for new and expanded programs at University System of Georgia and Technical College System of Georgia institutions.
- Public Safety: $150 million for Department of Corrections bed space, $9.7 million for additional corrections officers, $15 million for a new K-9 training facility, and $50 million to help communities address homelessness, including among veterans.
- Mental Health: $409 million to design and construct a new Georgia Regional Hospital to expand mental health bed capacity.
- Transportation: More than $1.6 billion to extend and expand I-75 express lanes in Henry County; $185 million for SR 316 interchange conversions; $100 million for rural bridge rehabilitation and replacement; and $250 million for local maintenance and improvement grants.
- Rural Georgia: $15 million for rural site development grants; $35 million for a new natural gas infrastructure program; and $8.9 million for the Georgia Forestry Innovation Initiative.
Governor Kemp says the state’s conservative budgeting approach has allowed Georgia to provide tax relief while making “generational investments.”
Georgia
Middle Georgia DSA condemns U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran, calls escalation ‘illegal’
MACON, Ga. (WGXA) — Middle Georgia Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) has issued a statement regarding the U.S. and Israel’s joint strikes on Iran over the weekend.
According to other WGXA articles, based on reports as of early March 2026, the United States and Israel have launched major, coordinated military operations against Iran, labeled in reports as “Operation Epic Fury” and “Operation Midnight Hammer”. This follows months of failed nuclear negotiations and escalating regional tensions.
RELATED | Hegseth insists US-Israel strikes on Iran are ‘not Iraq, not endless’
WGXA asked Middle Georgia DSA, the largest activist organization in Middle Georgia, for their opinions on the strikes, and they responded with this:
The strikes on Iran, carried out by the United States and Israel, mark a catastrophic escalation in an illegal act of aggression. The Iranian people do not deserve to live in fear of American bombs and of the instability of regime change. Americans do not want our tax dollars and the lives of our people to be wasted on opening up a new war in the Middle East, or on bombing girls’ elementary schools. We want relief from the affordability crisis. We want peace. Middle Georgia DSA unequivocally condemns these attacks and any politicians who cannot do the same. We do not want this, we do not deserve this.
DSA added that they are not currently planning any protests at this time, and that they “remain focused on improving the conditions of people who live within our communities directly, and do not feel a protest is the best strategy to deliver on that.”
Middle Georgia DSA condemns U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran, calls escalation ‘illegal’, March 2, 2026 (Image is meant to say 2026 instead of 2025, Courtesy of GCSU Mutual Aid)
However, GCSU Mutual Aid, a grassroots, community-led initiative focused on collective care and resource sharing within the Milledgeville and broader Middle Georgia area. While not an official department of Georgia College & State University (GCSU), it frequently operates in coordination with student-led groups and local residents to address gaps in traditional social safety nets.
RELATED | GCSU encourages peaceful expression ahead of national ICE walkout
GCSU Mutual Aid is planning a protest for Wednesday, where they will be “Marching for Democracy” in retaliation to recent events in the U.S.
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