Georgia Today: SCOTUS grants immunity for presidents; New Georgia laws; Safety around sharks

Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News. Today is Monday, July 1. I'm Peter Biello. On today's episode, the Supreme Court grants U.S. presidents immunity for official acts. But what does that mean for the case against Trump in Georgia? New laws go into effect as Georgia's new fiscal year begins. And a fish expert shares how to stay safe from sharks as you venture out into the ocean. These stories and more are coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.

Story 1:

Peter Biello: In a decision released today, the U.S. Supreme Court has granted U.S. presidents immunity for official acts. The decision extends the delay in the Washington criminal case against Donald Trump on charges he plotted to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss. Included in that case are Trump's attempts to convince Georgia officials to "find" enough votes to give him the win in Georgia. For more on this, we turn to Anthony Michael Kreis, a constitutional law professor in political science at Georgia State University College of Law. Welcome to the program.

Anthony Michael Kreis: Thank you.

Peter Biello: While the 6 to 3 conservative majority gave broad immunity to the president for things in his official capacity, what about the call with Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, in which Trump asked to find more than 11,000 votes to give him the win in Georgia? Apparently that's not so clear-cut. The Supreme Court sent that back to the trial court to determine whether any of that was part of an official duty. What did you make of that?

Anthony Michael Kreis: Well, I think it makes it fairly clear that a lot of the conduct that has been alleged in the Fulton County indictment will probably withstand scrutiny under the test that was laid down by the Supreme Court today. Because the simple fact is this, if Donald Trump was acting as Donald Trump candidate, Donald Trump, you know, a person running for for political office, that's not going to be the kind of thing that gets immunity. If Donald Trump is acting in that way, as it seems to be, both in tone and context, in terms of the demands he was making of Brad Raffensperger, that's going to be the kind of thing that is — is presumably prosecutable in Fulton County and in the federal system as well. What I think is important here to remember is that this is not the kind of internal, executive federal branch dialogue, official decision making, official federal act that the Supreme Court says can't be touched by federal or state prosecutors. It's reaching outside the federal government and asking for a particular outcome that doesn't really seem consistent with what a president would do, in their — in their official duty or capacity.

Peter Biello: That said, it's going to come down to the opinion of — of judges about whether or not that conduct was quote unquote, "official." And this is not a question specific to Trump, but in general, now with this new — new way of thinking about things. Presidents can appoint these judges. Does this now mean that presidents, if they get the right judge, can have a partisan ally on their side and get them out of trouble?

Anthony Michael Kreis: Well, it certainly has always been the case that the judges tend to have an ideological disposition. And it is true in the federal system in particular, that that's kind of a heightened issue. But we do know who in this instance has this case: Judge Chutkan, and the D.C. circuit will oversee ... oversee her decisions. But in the state system, presidents don't have that luxury. And so there's a kind of additional layered independence because of federalism issues that — that isn't necessarily present in the federal system, for a president who might be before a judge that they had appointed themselves or their successor, who is an ideological ally, appointed. So those are — that's always an issue, it's always a concern. But — but here in Fulton County in particular, you know, Judge McAfee, or a judge in a state court dealing with a similar kind of issue,  will have a little bit additional independence in terms of — of ideological attachment to a president, perhaps.

Peter Biello: So it seems like what you're saying, just to put a fine point on it, is that the state case, the Fulton County case against Trump, won't really be impacted by what the Supreme Court's done today.

Anthony Michael Kreis: By and large, I think it's not going to be impacted. There are really important issues, though, that that do get raised by the court's decision today. Namely, there are some kinds of internal conversations and orders that are part of the Fulton County indictment. Because not only is Donald Trump charged here, but so are some of his administration officials: Jeff Clark, who worked for the Department of Justice; Mark Meadows, who was his White House chief of staff. Now, they could be prosecuted as as former federal officials for unlawful acts, but evidence of conversations that they might have had with — with Donald Trump while he was president? Those kinds of things can't be used as evidence against Donald Trump. And so there might be certain, allegations or pieces of evidence that will get knocked out when used or attempted to be used against Donald Trump. And that raises one other important issue, which is: How do you try all these defendants together? It is less likely now, that — that you may have, in particular, Jeff Clark, who worked for the Department of Justice, tried alongside at the same defense table as Donald Trump because there's evidence you could use against Jeff Clark that you can't use against Donald Trump. A little less clear how that might work with Mark Meadows, because, because of how the evidence kind of shook out there. But that does certainly complicate things. And there's a — there's an added layer of complexity today that wasn't present yesterday in the Fulton County case. But at the end of the day, the overwhelming majority of the charges and pieces of evidence will stand.

Peter Biello: And when you're referring to the other defendants here, you're referring to actions related to Trump and his co-conspirators allegedly looking for alternate slates of electors to replace those that were — that were duly elected in 2020.

Anthony Michael Kreis: That's correct.

Peter Biello: And is there anything else about that case that stands out to you, that part of the case? I know we spoke about Brad Raffensperger a bit, but what about the electors? Is there anything else regarding that in the constitutional claims that that fell out of the "official duties" perimeter?

Anthony Michael Kreis: Well, we already had some interesting rulings from the federal courts here in Georgia, which were dealing with a separate issue about whether or not the former federal employees — former federal officials, namely Jeff Clark or Mark Meadows — could remove their cases into federal court from Fulton County Superior Court because they were doing official acts that were, you know, blessed by federal law and — and that were, protected by the Constitution. And — and the federal courts roundly rejected that claim and basically said that the actions that they undertook, by and large, here in Georgia, were not furthering a federal interest because, right, presidential electors are chosen by a system that is prescribed by state law, right? They, the states, run elections. It's not the federal government's prerogative to get terribly involved in how, votes are counted and to make sure that votes are counted accurately.

Peter Biello: So, in other words, there's no real reason a federal official like President Trump would have had to get involved in something like that. Therefore, it's not an official duty.

Anthony Michael Kreis: That's correct. And so a lot of those claims will probably fall by the wayside and will — will be ruled in favor of Fani Willis, because Donald Trump was acting as a candidate, not as president of the United States in, in, by and large, most of those issues. Again, the crux of that analysis, I suspect, will be the fact that Donald Trump was reaching outside of the federal government, outside of the executive branch, right towards state actors, and people in state government, that he has no right oversight over, that he has no control over as an official matter, and that he was doing that reaching out not because he was president, but because he was a candidate who wanted a particular electoral outcome that benefited him personally. And I think that that's where most of this analysis will fall.

Peter Biello: Well, Anthony Michael Kreis, constitutional law professor and political scientist at Georgia State University College of Law, thank you so much for speaking with me.

Anthony Michael Kreis: Thank you.

Story 2:

Peter Biello: July 1 is the start of Georgia's new fiscal year. And with that, new laws passed in the last legislative session and signed by Gov. Kemp go into effect today. GPB's Sarah Kallis looks at some of the changes.

Sarah Kallis: The state budget, including a raise for teachers and other state employees and a bill that increases the child tax deduction are now in effect. Several bills related to education, like the school vouchers bill and another allowing schools to use opioid antagonists like Narcan, are also law. And another law that significantly expands the list of crimes requiring cash bail, including some misdemeanors, will mostly take effect. A section of that law that criminalizes organizations paying bail for individuals is temporarily blocked while a lawsuit is pending. For GPB News, I'm Sarah Kallis in Atlanta.

Story 3:

Peter Biello: A federal judge has temporarily blocked part of a Georgia law that curtailed the ability of bail funds to post cash bonds. U.S. District Judge Victoria Marie Calvert on Friday blocked part of Senate Bill 63 from taking effect today. The part of the bill that is temporarily blocked limited people and organizations from posting more than three cash bonds each year unless they met the requirements for bail bond companies. That has had ripple effects in Georgia; the national nonprofit Bail Project cited Senate Bill 63 last month as a reason for ending its work in the state. The American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia and the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection at Georgetown University Law Center filed the lawsuit on June 21. They represent Bard Business Foundation, an Atlanta-based nonprofit whose activities include facilitating campaigns to pay cash bail. Other plaintiffs include two people who live in Athens and run a charitable bail fund in association with their church.

Story 4:

Peter Biello: Five members of a Georgia family visiting Cooperstown, N.Y., for a baseball tournament died when their small plane crashed in a rural part of New York. Authorities say Laura and Ryan Van Epps, two children, James and Harrison Van Epps, and Laura's father, the pilot, Roger Beggs, died in the crash yesterday. A statement from a family member on social media calls it a, quote, "unimaginable loss."

Caption

Attorney General Chris Carr

Credit: AP Photo/John Amis, File

Story 5:

Peter Biello: Attorney General Chris Carr announced last week the hiring of a prosecutor and investigator as part of a further expansion of a gang prosecution unit. With funding from this fiscal year's budget. Assistant Attorney General Ashton Jordan will oversee the unit's regional efforts in Macon-Bibb County as the prosecutor and Fulton County senior criminal investigator Nathan Showy will be joining as the criminal investigator. Since its creation a year ago, the Middle Georgia Gang Task Force has arrested nearly 200 people and seized 72 firearms and confiscated $1.5 million worth of drugs. The attorney general also has announced an expansion in Columbus and Southeast Georgia.

Story 6:

Peter Biello: People in Upson County in Middle Georgia are beginning to question whether or not they want to be the site for a cutting-edge plastics recycling facility. California-based Brightmark Energy has chosen Upson County as its location for a plant, which promises to turn all kinds of plastics into an oil used as feedstock for new plastics manufacturing. The $879 million in local bonds Brightmark is seeking for the facility, is almost twice the amount they asked for in an earlier failed effort in Bibb County. The current head of the Upson County Commission supports the proposal, but Rusty Blackston, former commission chair and former member of the local Industrial Development Authority, opposes it.

Rusty Blackston: This has been any other type industry — if it had been automobile parts manufacturing, if it'd been a bakery, a clothing manufacturer, a furniture — anything, I would be elated that they're coming here.

Peter Biello: Blackston says there are too many unanswered questions about the environmental benefits or even viability of the technology. He and others have incorporated in order to formally oppose the Brightmark project.

Story 7:

Peter Biello: More than a dozen critical infrastructure sites in Coastal Georgia are projected to flood at least twice a year by 2050 because of sea level rise. That's according to a new study by the Union of Concerned Scientists. GPB's Benjamin Payne reports.

Benjamin Payne: A container ship terminal in Savannah, an electrical substation on St. Simons Island and a nuclear submarine base in Camden County. Those are among 15 pieces of key infrastructure in Coastal Georgia, which the nonprofit found will likely flood two or more times a year by the middle of the century. Astrid Caldas is a climate researcher at the Union of Concerned Scientists, which advocates for decarbonization.

Astrid Caldas: We need to really fight for the reduction of emissions so that we can prevent the worst of the impacts of sea level rise, which on the second half of the century are going to depend on how much more emissions we pump into the atmosphere in the next 20 years.

Benjamin Payne: The study analyzed only the rise of sea levels and tides, not other factors such as storm surge, which is also being made worse by human-caused climate change. For GPB News, I'm Benjamin Payne in Savannah.

Story 8:

Peter Biello: School is out in Georgia and summer is in full swing, with many Georgians heading to Georgia and Florida. Beaches. Florida's Gulf Coast beaches are less than a day's drive for most Georgians, and the waters there have been carefully watched recently after shark attacks in shallow water closed several beaches off [Florida] Highway 30A. For more on sharks, we turn to Dr. Ryan Saylor, a fish expert and assistant professor of biology from Berry College in Rome, Ga. Dr. Saylor, thank you very much for speaking with me. Really appreciate it.

Dr. Ryan Saylor: Good afternoon, Peter, it's my pleasure. Thanks for inviting me.

Peter Biello: Of course, of course. So stories of sharks off the coast can be pretty scary. But tell us about the reality of it. Like, what should people do? What advice do you have for people who might be venturing into shallow waters in Florida beaches or off the coast of Georgia?

Dr. Ryan Saylor: Sure. I think it's a great question, and it really applies to all of us Georgians, right? Whether we're going into the ocean, you know, in this particular case, or if we're going into other wilderness, it's like what I like to consider as a calculated risk. When we when we head into National Forests, we often think about maybe the bears we may encounter. If you're out west, you might encounter mountain lions as part of that risk of wildlife. I think a lot of times we get caught up in the beautiful scenery of these beaches and forget that it's a wilderness and there's wild animals in there, and they happen to be, you know, longer than us, heavier than us. You know, the more we know about them and the more caution we have entering in there, the better off we all are, right? It's just a part of that calculated risk of enjoying the outdoors.

Peter Biello: Okay, so if you are venturing out into their neck of the wilderness — the water — is there behavior that you should engage in or avoid to keep yourself safe?

Dr. Ryan Saylor: I think one of the draws for some of these beaches, even in Florida, because I'm familiar with these beaches, is the isolation you can get, right? You're on this private beach. There's nobody around, but there's also nobody around to help in these events. And in this case, there were many people on the beach. And in fact, in one of the last attacks, there were doctors on the beach and nurses and getting those folks out. It's all about getting them out and stopping the bleeding as soon as possible. And it's just a tremendous thing. So making the decision to swim with a buddy or friends, not to isolate yourself and to swim at beaches that are more populated or have lifeguards or other emergency crews on standby. They're trained for things like this. You know, it's so rare. It doesn't happen necessarily all the time or on a routine basis, but they are trained to deal with these things. So having those experts around and then more people, the more likely it is to have somebody. So — and then, you know, even the best swimmers pale in comparison to the worst fish, right? And a lot of that comes with the splashing of the hands and the feet. And if you look at a lot of these attacks, a lot of those are generated there.

Peter Biello: So sharks like movement; they're attracted to the movement, is what you're saying.

Dr. Ryan Saylor: Absolutely. It mimics some of the fish that they're — you know, they — sharks are great, right? We need sharks out there to eat the fish that are dying, that are — that are diseased. They're great garbage disposals out there. And they're looking for these twitchy movements that indicate that that fish probably isn't completely healthy, and they go for it. And again, even on our best days, we make a lot of noise, right? We make a lot of noise and very splash. And we we rely heavily on our eyes. And sharks have better eyesight than us, but that's the worst of all their senses, right? They have way more senses than that. Attuned to sound, smell, electro reception, just a suite of things. So the more we can minimize that, the better. And if we're at these really populated beaches, they put out shark advisories. It's usually a purple flag to indicate there's some kind of dangerous marine life there. So if you listen to those, I mean, most people are out and I'm kind of surprised we don't have more drone patrols, for instance. You know, there's all these videos from people's cameras and drones now, fantastic footage of just off shore. It's amazing what we can get now.

Peter Biello: Are we seeing more shark sightings? Is it becoming more frequent, or is it simply an effect of everybody having cameras ready to — to film something when they see it?

Dr. Ryan Saylor: I think that's a great question, and it seems like probably a combination of both. I think some other experts agree that it seems like some of the numbers are up from previous years where they had went down. There's just a lot of people interested in videoing what's going on out there, whether it's a little snippet or whether it's a full on video press for a photography company. And then there's — this is around the time of year where more people are getting into the water in Florida. And honestly, as we get closer to July and August, the water's so warm down there that, you know, in my experience, I was less likely to go in now. So there's a lot of more people going in the water. And these sharks are also following their food, which travels along the coast. There's a lot of spawning activity. You know, they're attuned to their prey. That's what brings them in there. They know where their prey is, and we happen to swim in the same areas.

Peter Biello: All right. Well, fish fanatic, and assistant professor of biology at Barry College in Rome, Ga., Dr. Ryan Saylor, thank you so much for speaking with me. Really appreciate it.

Dr. Ryan Saylor: Oh, it's my pleasure. You have a great day and hopefully we'll do it again sometime.

Story 9:

Peter Biello: In sports. The Atlanta Braves fell to the Pittsburgh Pirates yesterday 4 to 2, but overall won the three-game series 2 to 1. Starter Spencer Schellenberg completed five innings and was charged with four runs, all earned, on five hits, and he struck out seven, matching his career high. The Braves have the day off today before kicking off a three-game series against the San Francisco Giants tomorrow. Reynaldo Lopez is expected to get the start for the Braves. In soccer, Atlanta United's Jamaal Tiarra stole the ball from the goalkeeper and scored an improbable goal in the final minute of play to lift Atlanta to a 2 to 1 victory over Toronto FC on Saturday. Atlanta United travels to play the New England Revolution on Wednesday. And after the first day of the Pro Volleyball Federation's free agency signing period, the Atlanta Vibe has officially re-signed eight players from the 2024 roster, including outside hitter and UGA alum Kacie Evans. Per team policy, terms of the contracts have not been disclosed.

Peter Biello: And that is it for this edition of Georgia Today. If you want to learn more about any of these stories, visit GPB.org/news. If you haven't yet, subscribe to this podcast. We encourage you to take a moment and do it now. That way, you'll stay on top of the news and we'll pop up in your feed automatically tomorrow. And if you've got feedback, we would love to hear from you. Email us. The address is GeorgiaToday@GPB.org. I'm Peter Biello. Thanks for listening. We'll see you tomorrow.

---

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