Law Commons^™

The Peculiarity Of Per Curiam: In The Georgia Supreme Court, R. Perry Sentell Jr.

Mercer Law Review

On notable occasions, the format of a message acquires a heritage equal in significance to the message itself. Because of its history, familiarity, intrigue, or sheer repetition, an account's style of presentation may serve not only to characterize the account, but also to condition its recipient to a pre-ordained demeanor of expectation. Style and substance are thus comingled, and the medium subsumes the message.

It should come as no surprise that the described phenomenon claims a special affinity to the law and to legal "messages." Much of the information transmitted in law and in legal circles projects history, familiarity, intrigue, …

"Garbage In, Garbage Out": The Litigation Implosion Over The Unconstitutional Organization And Jurisdiction Of The City Court Of Atlanta, Edward C. Brewer Iii

Mercer Law Review

The City Court of Atlanta, the primary traffic court for Atlanta, Georgia, has exercised jurisdiction since 1996 over more than one million traffic violations and, since 1988 and under two statutes, some fifty thousand nontraffic misdemeanors. The City Court's first predecessor, the Traffic Court of Atlanta, adjudicated traffic law violations from 1955 to 1967 and was replaced in 1967 by a second court, also known as the City Court, which existed until 1996. That City Court's jurisdiction was expanded in 1988 to include nontraffic misdemeanors arising from the same occurrence as the traffic violation. In 1996 the City Court was …