Georgia Supreme Court Cases

Chandler Vs. Miller

Held that GA's requirement that candidates for state office pass a drug test violated the 14th amendment against suspicion less searches.

Georgia Vs. Randolph

Police cannot search a home without a warrant when 1 occupant refuses to permit search.

Ballew Vs. Georgia

Held that criminal trail using a jury of less than 6 members violated the 6th amendment guaranteeing free trial.

Furman Vs. Georgia

Held that Georgia's methods of administering the death penalty violated 8th amendment against cruel and unusual punishment. Decision effectively ended executions in the US for more than a decade.

Gregg Vs. Georgia

Upheld Georgia's revised law on capital punishment, which limited the crimes for which the death penalty could be imposed and specified the factors to be considered and procedures to be used in deciding when to impose capital punishment.

Coker Vs. Georgia

Found that Georgia's imposition of the death penalty for the crime of rape was grossly disproportionate and thus a violation of the 8th amendment of cruel and unusual punishment.

McCleskey Vs. Kemp

Rejected the claim that racial dDifferences in the imposition of the death penalty violated the equal protection guarantee of the 14th amendment and amounted to cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the 8th amendment.

Baker Vs. Carr

Ruling and subsequent decisions forced states to draw legislative districts on the basis of population rather than political boundaries such as county lines.

King Vs. Chapman

Resulted in overturning white primary.

Heart of Atlanta Vs. US

Upheld constitutionality of Title 2 of civil rights act of 1964 which prohibited racial discrimination in public accommodations.

Olmstead Vs. L.C

States practice of involuntarily institutionalizing disables individuals judged suitable to live in less restrictive setting violates Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

Fortson Vs. Toombs

Upheld a lower court's 1962 decision that the 14th amendment required seats in the General Assembly to be apportioned with districts of roughly equal population rather than being based on county or other political boundaries.

Gray Vs. Sanders

Held that Georgia's county-unit system violated the 14th amendment's equal protection guarantee because it malapportioned votes among the state's counties.

Miller Vs. Johnson

Invalidated Georgia's congressional redistricting following 1990 census as a violation of the 14th amendment's equal protection clause bc. race was the predominant factor in drawing district boundaries. The General Assembly had created 3 black-majority districts, with the 11th district having a very irregular shape.

Georgia Vs. Ashcroft

Held that courts reviewing redistricting under the Voting Rights Act have to consider all relevant factors affecting minority voters, not just the chance of electing minority candidates.

Stanley Vs. Georgia

Overturned state law making private possession of obscene material a crime. The Georgia law was held to violate the 1st and 14th amendments of US Constitution.

Paris Adult Theatre Vs. Slaton

Held that banning the showing of allegedly obscene films to consenting adults in a commercial theater does not violate the 1st amendment or the right to privacy.

Cox Broadcasting Vs. Colin

Overturned the GA law prohibiting publication of the name of a rape victim obtained from public records.

Forsyth County Vs. Nationalist Movement

: Invalidated a local ordinance requiring participants to pay law enforcement costs for demonstrations and empowering the county administrator to determine how much to charge a group seeking a permit for demonstration. The court found fault with the ordinance because it granted excessively broad discretion to the administrator, who was required to examine the content of a groups message in determining the fee to be charged for law enforcement protection.

Doe Vs. Bolton

Less famous Georgia case decided along with Roe Vs. Wade. IT overturned Georgia's ban on abortions as a violation of a woman's rights to privacy.

Bowers Vs Hardwick

Held that the right to privacy DID NOT protect consensual homosexual sex from prosecution under Georgia's sodomy law.