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The Georgia county where Ahmad Arbery was shot has filed a lawsuit challenging an upcoming vote on abolishing the county’s police force.
The lawsuit specifically challenges Senate bills 38 and 509, which ask the question of whether the Glynn County Police Department should be abolished and have its functions and assets transferred to the Glynn County sheriff.
The issue is supposed decided in a Nov. 3 special election, but the plaintiffs claim the bills are unconstitutional.
The plaintiffs seek to have the procedural requirements under Georgia law enforced and adhered to as they relate to the administration of special elections.
The Ahmaud Arbery story captured national attention when the 25-year-old was shot and killed by a father and son who had connections with the Glynn County police force.
According to a Fox News report, Travis McMichael and his son, who are white, armed themselves and pursued Arbery, who was Black, as he was jogging in their neighborhood. The shooting was captured on cellphone video by William Bryan, one of the McMichaels’ neighbors.
Initially, the case belonged to the Glynn County Police Department, which sat on it for two months.
The police force has faced backlash in the months since the Ahmaud Arbery story went public, according to First Coast News.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation took over after a New York Times article, the release of a video of the shooting and growing attention from lawmakers, celebrities and activists, the New York Times reported.
Arrests in the case were made only after the Georgia Bureau of Investigation stepped in for local prosecutors; the McMichaels and Bryan each have been charged with felony murder, according to Fox News.
As a result of the delayed arrests and the circumstances surrounding Arbery’s death, protesters calling for justice for George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man killed by Minneapolis police, have also rallied for justice in Arbery’s case.
After the Ahmaud Arbery story came to light, details emerged about the local police force’s history of involvement in scandals and claims of corruption for years, Fox News reported. The claims include allegations of evidence tampering, lying to prosecutors and retaliation against whistleblowers.
Within days of Arbery’s shooting, Glynn County Police Chief John Powell was indicted on charges of perjury and witness tampering in a case involving alleged wrongdoing by the department’s narcotics task force, according to Fox News. Three other officials with the department also were arrested.
However, the commission’s lawsuit says it “does not seek to litigate any question related to the merits of abolishing the Glynn County Police Department, or the reasons that motivated the passage and enactment of these bills,” nor does it seek to call into question the sheriff’s ability to provide law-enforcement services in place of the police force.
Rather, the commission argues proper procedures for getting the question on the ballot were not followed.
Because the Senate bills did not become law until Aug. 5 and were not transmitted to the Glynn County Board of Elections and Registration until Aug. 10, the board was unable to meet its statutory deadline of 90 days before the general election for calling a special election, the lawsuit alleges. The board still has not called the special election question.
“Failure to comply with the mandatory prerequisites to the holding of a special election, such as filing a petition to call the election as provided by law or advertising the election as required by law, renders the election void and equity will take jurisdiction and so decree,” the plaintiffs argue. They add that if state-mandated procedures aren’t followed, the election can be stopped.
The plaintiffs say counties do not have enough poll workers to conduct a single election Nov. 3, “much less two separate elections, at different facilities, using duplicate equipment and additional poll workers.”
The Georgia Secretary of State is aware of the cost “and logistical nightmare” that would be associated with holding two separate elections at different polling places, the lawsuit says, and “recognizes that doing so would result in voter confusion, low voter turnout, and potential voter disenfranchisement as a consequence of attempting to hold two separate elections on the same day,” especially in light of the coronavirus pandemic.
The plaintiffs are asking the Court to issue a temporary restraining order to keep the defendants from taking action on the special-election question of whether to abolish the Glynn County police force.
They also seek an interlocutory injunction as well as a mandamus nisi requiring the defendants to show cause why a mandamus should not be issued against them requiring them to take action.
Do you think the vote to abolish the Glynn County Police Department should move forward? Let us know in the comments.
The plaintiffs are represented by Richard K. Strickland and Bradley J. Watkins of Brown, Readdick, Bumgartner, Carter, Strickland & Watkins, LLP.
The Glynn County Police Abolition Special Election Lawsuit is Glynn County Board of Commissioners, et al. v. Brad Raffensperger, et al., Case No. unknown, in the Superior Court of Glynn County, State of Georgia.
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