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State and Local Government Law

Georgia State University College of Law

COVID-19

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Torts: Covid-19 Pandemic Business Safety Act & Executive Order By The Governor Designating Auxiliary Management Workers And Emergency Management Activities, Angelena Velaj, Troy Viger Dec 2020

Torts: Covid-19 Pandemic Business Safety Act & Executive Order By The Governor Designating Auxiliary Management Workers And Emergency Management Activities, Angelena Velaj, Troy Viger

Georgia State University Law Review

The Executive Order expanded immunity from liability for volunteer health care workers as emergency management workers performing emergency management activities. The Order was not limited to only COVID-19-related activities. When the legislature reconvened, legislators passed the Georgia COVID-19 Pandemic Business Safety Act, which provided liability limitation to businesses against tort claims arising from the pandemic.


Statewide Judicial Emergency: Judicial Order By The Supreme Court Of Georgia Declaring A Statewide Judicial Emergency, Stephanie J. Remy, Brittiny K. Slicker Dec 2020

Statewide Judicial Emergency: Judicial Order By The Supreme Court Of Georgia Declaring A Statewide Judicial Emergency, Stephanie J. Remy, Brittiny K. Slicker

Georgia State University Law Review

The Supreme Court of Georgia issued an Order declaring a Statewide Judicial Emergency to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 throughout the State of Georgia. The courts remained open to address essential functions, as defined within the Order. Additionally, all deadlines and other filing requirements were extended or tolled. Throughout the counties in Georgia, different courts released Orders outlining how they would follow the Judicial Emergency Order from the Supreme Court of Georgia. The Judicial Emergency Order had been extended four times as of August 1, 2020.


Shelter In Place: Executive Order By The Governor To Ensure A Safe & Healthy Georgia, Preston A. Dunaway, Graham H. Gordon Dec 2020

Shelter In Place: Executive Order By The Governor To Ensure A Safe & Healthy Georgia, Preston A. Dunaway, Graham H. Gordon

Georgia State University Law Review

The Order required all visitors and residents of Georgia to practice social distancing in compliance with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines; prohibited businesses in Georgia from allowing groups of more than ten people to gather at any single location; imposed a mandatory shelter-in-place requirement for all visitors and residents of Georgia except for essential workers, as defined within the Order; and laid out guidelines for how businesses would operate during the quarantine. Further, the Order limited restaurant services and closed certain businesses, including gyms and bowling alleys. The Order also superseded all local Orders purporting to regulate …


Preemption: Executive Order By The Governor To Ensure A Safe & Healthy Georgia, Marisa P. Ahlzadeh, Fanny Chac Dec 2020

Preemption: Executive Order By The Governor To Ensure A Safe & Healthy Georgia, Marisa P. Ahlzadeh, Fanny Chac

Georgia State University Law Review

The doctrine of preemption expresses the idea that “a higher authority of law will displace a lower authority of law when the two authorities come into conflict.” Preemption exists on both the federal and state level. According to the Georgia Constitution, local laws are permissible if they do not conflict with the state law on the subject. During a Public Health State of Emergency, the Governor of Georgia maintains certain expanded powers to take necessary action for the health and safety of the public. On April 2, 2020, Governor Brian Kemp (R) used these expanded powers to enact an Executive …


Health Insurance Portability And Accountability Act Of 1996: Health & Public Welfare, Erin L. Hayes, Kathryn A. Vance Dec 2020

Health Insurance Portability And Accountability Act Of 1996: Health & Public Welfare, Erin L. Hayes, Kathryn A. Vance

Georgia State University Law Review

The Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information (“Privacy Rule”) establish a standard for the use and protection of individuals’ health information and apply to certain covered entities or their business associates. Covered entities may only disclose an individual’s protected health information in limited situations. Covered entities or individuals that fail to comply with the Privacy Rule standards may be subject to civil or criminal penalties.


Bioethics: Ethical Considerations Of Ventilator Triage During A Pandemic, Susannah J. Gleason, William J. Keegan Dec 2020

Bioethics: Ethical Considerations Of Ventilator Triage During A Pandemic, Susannah J. Gleason, William J. Keegan

Georgia State University Law Review

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, hospitals across the country faced unprecedented volumes of patients seeking treatment related to the respiratory complications of the virus. As a result, states were forced to reassess existing scarce resource allocation guidelines to appropriately accommodate the high demand. This Peach Sheet analyzes the ethical considerations implicated in enacting and following these guidelines when treating patients, specifically in the context of ventilator triage in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.


First Amendment: Executive Order By The Governor Limiting Large Gatherings Statewide, Alex N. Estroff, Boris W. Gautier Dec 2020

First Amendment: Executive Order By The Governor Limiting Large Gatherings Statewide, Alex N. Estroff, Boris W. Gautier

Georgia State University Law Review

Beginning in March 2020, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (R) issued a series of Executive Orders addressing the State’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Included in these Orders was a prohibition on large groups of people gathering in a single location. Though an effective means of curtailing the virus’s rapid transmission, this specific provision became a source of controversy for groups who believed such a prohibition infringed upon their First Amendment rights.


Public Health State Of Emergency: Executive Order By The Governor Declaring A Public Health State Of Emergency, Rebecca Hu, Ellen Y. Min Dec 2020

Public Health State Of Emergency: Executive Order By The Governor Declaring A Public Health State Of Emergency, Rebecca Hu, Ellen Y. Min

Georgia State University Law Review

The Executive Order primarily functions to enumerate the Governor’s emergency powers during a Public Health State of Emergency. The Executive Order allows for the Governor to assist health and emergency management officials by deploying available resources for the mitigation and treatment of COVID-19 within Georgia.


Forced Business Closures: Executive Orders By The Governor Closing Private Businesses, Baylee A. Culverhouse, Alexa R. Martin Dec 2020

Forced Business Closures: Executive Orders By The Governor Closing Private Businesses, Baylee A. Culverhouse, Alexa R. Martin

Georgia State University Law Review

Governor Brian Kemp (R) issued Executive Orders in response to the COVID-19 pandemic that required businesses to close in an effort to limit the spread of the virus. Business owners often challenged those forced business closures as unconstitutional or as exceeding the State’s police power, and those challenges were met with varying degrees of success.


Crimes And Offenses: Proposed Constitutional Carry Act Of 2019 & Executive Order By The Governor Temporarily Extending Renewal Requirements For Weapons Carry Licenses, Kristin Harripaul, Briana A. James Dec 2020

Crimes And Offenses: Proposed Constitutional Carry Act Of 2019 & Executive Order By The Governor Temporarily Extending Renewal Requirements For Weapons Carry Licenses, Kristin Harripaul, Briana A. James

Georgia State University Law Review

In March 2020, Governor Brian Kemp (R) issued an Executive Order declaring a Public Health State of Emergency due to COVID-19. The Supreme Court of Georgia also issued a Judicial Order declaring a Statewide Judicial Emergency. The Council of Probate Court Judges subsequently characterized the processing of weapons carry licenses as non-essential and temporarily suspended license issuances to limit the spread of COVID-19. HB 2 would have eliminated the license requirement and the need for probate judges to process applications. However, HB 2 never received a hearing before the 2019–20 legislative session ended. Gun rights advocates called on Governor Kemp …


Elections: Elections And Primaries Through The Pandemic, Joseph M. Brickman, Logan D. Kirkes Dec 2020

Elections: Elections And Primaries Through The Pandemic, Joseph M. Brickman, Logan D. Kirkes

Georgia State University Law Review

The 2020 election cycle was all but normal. Due to certain health concerns associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, Georgia delayed its primary election three months from March to June and summarily mailed absentee ballot request forms to all active, registered voters. From presidential social media postings to a federal lawsuit, debate ensued over the widespread usage of absentee ballots, their overall effectiveness and security, who would receive request forms, and whether postage requirements qualified as an impermissible poll tax. To further compound these uncertainties, Georgia legislators, who are not permitted to fundraise or campaign during the forty-day legislative session, had …


Mandatory Quarantine: Administrative Order By The Georgia Department Of Public Health For Public Health Control Measures: Isolation Protocol, Matthew C. Daigle, Carissa L. Lavin Dec 2020

Mandatory Quarantine: Administrative Order By The Georgia Department Of Public Health For Public Health Control Measures: Isolation Protocol, Matthew C. Daigle, Carissa L. Lavin

Georgia State University Law Review

The Administrative Order for Public Health Control Measures and its subsequent amendments outlined the Isolation and Quarantine Protocols for individuals who either tested positive for COVID-19 or were suspected of COVID-19 infection based on symptoms or prolonged exposure to the virus.


2020 Bar Examination: Judicial Order By The Supreme Court Of Georgia Providing For Provisional Admission To The Practice Of Law, Jessica M. Luegering, Gabby Wimley Dec 2020

2020 Bar Examination: Judicial Order By The Supreme Court Of Georgia Providing For Provisional Admission To The Practice Of Law, Jessica M. Luegering, Gabby Wimley

Georgia State University Law Review

The Supreme Court of Georgia issued the Judicial Order to postpone administration of the July 2020 Georgia bar examination to September 2020. The Order provided for the provisional admission to the practice of law of recent law school graduates and lawyers new to Georgia—those most affected by the postponement.