By Jill Nolin | Editor
It’s not every day that Georgia’s justices call on lawmakers to act, but they did not hold back in March when weighing in on a south Georgia murder case where a defendant argued his defense attorneys failed him.
“In short, the system is broken. We did a lot of the breaking. But it will require legislative action to fix it,” Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Nels Peterson wrote in the opinion.
Now, state lawmakers are huddling together in the legislative off season to dig into the issue. A study committee will hold its first meeting this afternoon.
Legislators will convene at the Nathan Deal Judicial Center to address Georgia's post-conviction landscape, which Supreme Court Chief Justice Nels Peterson labeled “broken” and “a mess” in an opinion issued earlier this year. John McCosh/Georgia Recorder
COURTS
By Maya Homan
A legislative study committee aimed at improving the appeals process for those convicted of crimes in Georgia will hold its first meeting Friday to address a system that Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Nels Peterson labeled “broken” and “a mess” in an opinion issued earlier this year.
The case centered around Joshua Sanders, an Alabama man who was convicted in 2023 of killing two Georgia women in Vidalia. The day after he was sentenced, he filed a motion for a new trial, which was later denied. In an appeal to that denial, he claimed that his court-appointed lawyers were ineffective during his trial, and that the lawyers who filed the appeal did not mention his ineffective counsel claims when requesting a new trial.
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., left, and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., appear at a news conference on the Upper West Terrace of U.S. Capitol Building on Oct. 1, 2025. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
CONGRESS
By Jennifer Shutt
Republicans are campaigning to keep control of Congress for another two years, but their message about being the “grown-ups” in the room keeps getting overshadowed by public feuds that have sidetracked work on major legislation.
After enacting large swaths of their agenda during the last year and a half, GOP lawmakers can’t seem to agree on what comes next, with senators openly debating each other on social media and a group of far-right House lawmakers blocking work on the floor, forcing the speaker to send them home early for the Fourth of July break. The infighting and limited time in session could prevent Republicans from notching any more wins before voters head to the polls in November.
Booths await voters during the May 19, 2026, primary election at Temple View Elementary School in Idaho Falls, Idaho. (Photo by Pat Sutphin/Idaho Capital Sun)
ELECTIONS
By Jacob Fischler
The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s guidelines to states on how to request funding under counterterrorism grant programs include potentially illegal demands related to election administration, Democrats on the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee said Thursday.
The Department of Homeland Security, which includes FEMA, sent states last month notices of available federal funding for non-disaster grants under the Homeland Security Grant Program, the Nonprofit Security Grant Program and the Transit Security Grant Program.
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ICYMI FROM THE RECORDER
Special event
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Medicaid and the Road Ahead
Spending Cuts, Work Requirements and What's Next for States, Providers and Families
July 23, 2026
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Significant changes to Medicaid – the publicly-funded health insurance for people with low incomes – are expected to put new pressures on states, healthcare providers and those who depend on the coverage. Families and individuals are already feeling caught up in unpredictable and confusing changes, at times when they’re dealing with significant health crises.
Join healthcare policy experts from KFF and journalists from States Newsroom who cover these issues at the state and national level for an in-depth discussion on the impacts that federal funding cuts, work requirements and state policy are having on healthcare in the U.S. They’ll explain the latest developments and discuss the political debate around these changes.
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