Georgia Today: Lawsuit against Delta Air Lines; AP African American Studies; Police pursuit policies

Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News. Today is Wednesday, Aug. 7. I'm Peter Biello. On today's episode, passengers sued Delta Air Lines over flights impacted by widespread tech problems. The Georgia superintendent reverses his position on whether AP African-American studies violates the state's divisive concepts law. And we'll take a look at the dangers of the Georgia State Patrol's pursuit policy. These stories and more are coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.

Story 1:

Peter Biello: The center of Tropical Storm Debby has passed Coastal Georgia as it makes its way to South Carolina, but communities are still recovering from flood damage. GPB's Benjamin Payne has more from Savannah.

Benjamin Payne: The city has seen about 10 inches of rain since Monday from Debbie. That's more than twice the rainfall Savannah usually sees for the entire month of August. Mayor Van Johnson:

Van Johnson: This storm was different. I mean, usually, you know, you see, hurricane is coming from the front, you know, days before it comes and then it comes. There's wind, a storm surge, all these things. No, this was something different. Debby was a mean girl. She came from behind us, snuck up on us, then sat and just stayed there and just rained and rained and rained.

Benjamin Payne: Savannah's stormwater management director says it will take a few more days for some flooded canals to recede. No injuries or deaths from Debby have been reported in the city. For GPB News, I'm Benjamin Payne in Savannah.

Story 2:

Peter Biello: Georgia's State Election Board has voted to require county election officials to make a, quote, "reasonable inquiry" before certifying election results to the state. Yesterday's vote by the Republican controlled-board could signal that county-level fights over approving election results could intensify in Georgia this November. Democrats and others, including government ethics attorney Nikhel Sus says the new rule is an invitation for post-election chaos.

Nikhel Sus: I'm saying that adopting a rule that's inconsistent with statute and over 100 years of Georgia Supreme Court precedent is outside of this board's authority. This reasonable inquiry language has no basis in Georgia law.

Peter Biello: Supporters say the measure is aimed at providing fair and reasonable oversight of elections.

Story 3:

Peter Biello: The Chief Judge of Superior Court in metro Atlanta's Cobb County, has declared a judicial emergency because of a slew of problems facing the office of the court's clerk. Chief Judge Gregory Poole is suspending deadlines and other filing requirements for 30 days. His order, issued today, says a software conversion for an electronic case management system has led to a host of problems, including lost files, defendants missing court appearances and possible constitutional concerns.

Story 4:

Peter Biello: The state school superintendent is reversing his position on whether a new Advanced Placement course in African-American studies should be allowed in the state catalog. Superintendent Richard Woods said this afternoon he now does not believe the course violates Georgia's law against teaching divisive racial concepts. This comes after he received an opinion from the state attorney general. Montu Miller teaches the course to students in Athens-Clarke County Public Schools.

Montu Miller: I think they enjoy it because it really does fill in the gaps where their U.S. history class kind of just drops the ball. A lot of my students are Black, so it's a good course for them to really feel like they can have pride in some things and not just be taught just about slavery. It's celebrating the Black experience around the world.

Peter Biello: Woods had faced a growing backlash, including from fellow Republicans, over his decision to not recommend the course.

Caption

Delta

Story 5:

Peter Biello: Delta Air Lines passengers are suing the airline after their flights were affected by the CrowdStrike outage last month. They say Delta canceled more flights than necessary and refused to properly compensate them when their flights were delayed or canceled. The lawsuit was filed yesterday in an Atlanta-based federal court. The Atlanta-based airline blames Microsoft and CrowdStrike, claiming the outage cost them half $1 billion. Microsoft says Delta's accusations are false, misleading and damaging to Microsoft's reputation. Delta didn't comment directly on the accusation, but said it had spent billions for good IT systems.

Story 6:

Peter Biello: Children's Healthcare of Atlanta will transfer 340 patients using 56 ambulances as Eggleston Hospital closes and their new Arthur M. Blank Hospital opens next month. The health care system outlined its plans for the new hospital's Sept. 29 opening yesterday. GPB's Ellen Eldridge has more.

Ellen Eldridge: Natural light, calming colors, skilled medical care and the most up-to-date equipment will be part of the new facility. Patients will have private rooms with a double sofa where family members can sleep. The hospital also offers washers and dryers, family lounges and kitchenettes on every floor. The 19-story, 2 million square-foot hospital will add 116 additional pediatric beds. Linda Cole with Children's Healthcare of Atlanta says everyone is prepared to safely move the patients.

Linda Cole: We'll also transfer patients from the Scottish Rite AFLAC Cancer and Blood Disorders Center. Because we're going to consolidate our inpatient hematology services at Arthur M. Blank.

Ellen Eldridge: The hospital is the only Level 1 pediatric trauma center in Georgia. For GPB News, I'm Ellen Eldridge.

Story 7:

Peter Biello: Georgia political and business leaders met in Athens for the Georgia Chamber's annual Congressional Luncheon today, GPB's Sarah Kallis has more on the bipartisan gathering.

Sarah Kallis: Democratic U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop and Republican U.S. Rep. Austin Scott spoke about the economic needs of rural Georgia and what Congress can do to support the people who live in those regions. Bishop and Scott stressed the urgency behind passing the farm bill: a large package of legislation that aids farmers and helps with food access. Bishop said:

Stanford Bishop: I suspect that all people who come from farm country and all Americans really should have an interest in the farm bill because agriculture affects every single person in America every single day. If you eat, it affects you.

Sarah Kallis: Both congressmen represent largely rural areas and support the farm bill. The bill expires and is updated about every five years. It has been stalled in Congress this year. For GPB News, I'm Sarah Kallis in Athens.

Story 8:

Peter Biello: Georgia State Patrol engage in a pursuit of a suspect somewhere in the state nearly every day. A new investigation by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution finds that Georgia has the highest percentage of any state of people who die in police pursuits, and that often includes innocent bystanders. The investigation also found that Georgia's policy on when to pursue a fleeing suspect is among the most lenient. Atlanta Journal-Constitution investigative reporter Asia Simone Burns and data journalist Justin Price are here to tell us about their reporting. Welcome to the program.

Asia Simone Burns: Thanks for having us.

Justin Price: Thanks for having us.

Peter Biello: We'll start with you, Asia. You profile one family who suffered an awful loss not far from where we're having this conversation, in Midtown Atlanta. Broadly speaking, can you tell us what happened to them?

Asia Simone Burns: Yes. It was actually eerie: On the way here, I passed the location where all this happened. So in 2020, we had Fredricia Kane. She was in a car that she had bought maybe a month prior. In the backseat was her 18-year-old sister, Anjanae McClain, and driving was her then-boyfriend, Jamal Benson. Also in the backseat were Jamal's niece and his nephew — or great nephew, who's three months old. They were having a relatively normal day. They were heading back from a restaurant. And while they were sitting at a red light, a car came out of nowhere, smashed into the side of them, and left two of the people in that car dead.

Peter Biello: And that car had been the subject of a police pursuit.

Asia Simone Burns: Yes. The fleeing car was a subject of police pursuit. The person who was driving the car started in Cobb County. A trooper said that he spotted him, saw that he was speeding, and tried to catch up with him. And that pursuit that started in Cobb County ended up spilling over into Midtown.

Peter Biello: So high rate of speed: That's as — that's as much as they knew about the suspect at the time, that they were just speeding?

Asia Simone Burns: At the time, yes.

Peter Biello: Mm-hmm. What was the policy that was guiding the state trooper in making the decision to pursue someone who was already going very, very fast on I-75?

Asia Simone Burns: It's different from a lot of policies from similar agencies. We looked at 44 pursuit policies, actually, from highway patrols across the country. A lot of highway patrols, you see in their policies, they have certain offenses that you have to consider and you can pursue if you suspect that somebody, let's say, has committed a forcible felony, attempted murder, battery, those sorts of things. The Georgia State Patrol's policy doesn't have anything like that in it. You can pursue over any offense.

Peter Biello: Like a broken taillight, they can pursue someone —

Asia Simone Burns: Like a broken taillight. Exactly. And this policy is one of the most permissive that we saw in the entire country. The only one that actually compares is Texas.

Peter Biello: Justin, how deadly are pursuits in Georgia compared to other states?

Justin Price: So we looked at a period of five years beginning in 2019 through 2023. And we were able to count 1,900 injuries and 63 deaths over that period. Half the people who are injured are bystanders or passengers who are in the vehicles that are fleeing. And then the other half are the drivers of the vehicles who are — who are running.

Peter Biello: And how do these injuries typically occur? Are there accidents like the one we just heard about from Asia, or is it the way Georgia State Patrol conducts the chase part of the cause?

Justin Price: It can be both, because the Georgia State Patrol doesn't put many restrictions on the reasons that a pursuit can take place, and the actions that a trooper can take during a pursuit. What typically happens is a pursuit will continue to the point of a crash, whether that's an accidental crash that happens over the course of a high-speed pursuit — someone runs into another vehicle, as we wrote about in the Midtown case — or a trooper will use a tactic that's known as the "precision immobilization technique." Typically, people call it the PIT maneuver.

Peter Biello: That's like tapping the car on the rear quarter panel, essentially putting it into a spin, which is a very dangerous thing to do.

Justin Price: It's very dangerous at high speeds. A lot of agencies that we looked at — their policies restrict the use of the PIT maneuver above certain speeds. So anything above 40 or 50 mph, for example, would be out of out of line in their policy. Whereas with the Georgia State Patrol, there is no restriction on the speed at which a PIT maneuver could be used. When done at excessive speeds, the trajectory of the vehicle that's being spun out is completely unpredictable, and typically the vehicles are left completely totaled and the people inside are often injured in those cases.

Peter Biello: You asked Georgia State Patrol about what you found. How did they respond to you?

Asia Simone Burns: We actually, prior to our story coming out, sent them virtually all of our findings. From that, the Georgia State Patrol did send us a response that we published in full on our website. Largely, what the statement said was that the GSP was standing behind its policy, that it's rooted in case law and that their policy — I believe that the phrase that they use— Justin, you'll have to correct me here — is proportionately appropriate to the rise in crime in Atlanta. They also said that this is a compliance issue, that if people would stop fleeing from police, then there wouldn't be any pursuits.

Peter Biello: That was an interesting part of their response, because it occurred to me that, you know, they could make that choice to not comply and not pull over when those lights go on. But to chase them is to, in effect, have some effect on their behavior, right? They speed up. Did the state account for the fact that their pursuit may in fact make things worse?

Asia Simone Burns: Well, the state actually did not directly address any of our findings and didn't dispute anything that we laid out in our story. What they did have to say about that was getting back to the compliance issue. We also spoke to some experts, though, one of them being Lawrence Miller. He is a forensic psychologist in Florida, and he has worked with law enforcement departments. What he said about that is that during a pursuit, both parties stand the chance of having their adrenaline coursing and having that adrenal reaction, where, you know, for somebody who's fleeing, they have more of a fight-or-flight prey response. And the trooper is reacting in very much the same way where he potentially can view his surroundings as being more dangerous than they are.

Justin Price: That decision making that can be affected by adrenaline isn't checked by anyone at the GSP. So in other agencies, they're aware of this effect on a trooper. They refer to it as tunnel vision. It can have an effect on your decision-making. So they will require, typically — every other state except for Texas and Georgia — they're the only two states that do not require a supervisor to be involved in the decision making during a pursuit.

Peter Biello: I want to thank you both, reporters. Asia Simone Burns and Justin Price. Thank you both for being here. And thank you for your reporting.

Justin Price: Thank you. Thanks for having us.

Peter Biello: And you can find a link to their investigation at GPB.org/news.

Story 9:

Peter Biello: There are a lot of ways to describe last night's Braves game against the Milwaukee Brewers, but for most Braves fans, perhaps the word that best describes it is "painful." Starting pitcher Bryce Elder gave up seven runs in the first 3 2/3 innings, and things just got worse. By the eighth inning, the Brewers had scored 10 and the Braves had yet to score. In the top of the ninth, the Braves brought in position player Luke Williams, whose pitches hovered in the mid-                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 50s and should have been crushable. But somehow, with the bases loaded and no outs, the Brewers flied out three times to end the inning without scoring a run. It was one of three innings in which the Brewers failed to score. But that fact hardly felt like a cause for celebration. The game ended 10 to nothing, the second consecutive shutout for the Braves. The two teams face off again tonight at Truist Park. Chris Sale is expected to get the start. Tonight is also the night fans will have a chance to see a performance of three Atlanta bands hand-selected by Braves pitcher Spencer Strider. Strider is known for his fastball and his love of music, and the first 15,000 fans through the gates at Truist Park will get a vinyl record featuring Dinner Time, Lunar Vacation, or Trash Panda. Strider recently spoke with GPB's Jeremy Powell.

Spencer Strider: You know, I generally assume that most people don't share my music interests, and, I take some pride in that. I'm certainly trying to not be very mainstream at times. But, you know, one of the cool things was just, you know, being Atlanta groups, they're obviously Braves fans and familiar with the Braves and getting to talk to them and meet them. And there was such a mutual respect between us that was cool.

Peter Biello: You can find the full conversation with Spencer Strider at GPB.org/PeachJam, or find the Peach Jam Podcast wherever you get your podcasts.

Peter Biello: And that is it for this podcast. We do appreciate you tuning in and we hope you'll come back tomorrow. We've got more news coming your way and you won't want to miss it. The best way to stay on top of the news, of course, is to subscribe to this podcast. When you do, we will pop up automatically in your podcast feed tomorrow. As always, we welcome your feedback. Send it by email to GeorgiaToday@GPB.org ,and for the latest news updates you can always check GPB.org/news. I'm Peter Biello. Thank you again for listening. We'll see you tomorrow.

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For more on these stories and more, go to GPB.org/news