One year after Fani Willis catapulted herself into national headlines by filing criminal charges against former President Donald Trump, Fulton County voters have reelected her as their district attorney. Willis became the first woman to serve as Fulton County district attorney when she was elected to her first term in 2020, unseating longtime incumbent Paul […]
Madeline Thigpen
Madeline Thigpen is Capital B Atlanta's criminal justice reporter.
Posted inPolitics & Policy
Who Are Black Men in Atlanta Voting For?
All eyes are on Georgia today, as months of campaigning come to a close in the 2024 presidential election. Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are each vying for the Oval Office, focusing on Black men in the Peach State as a powerful voter demographic that could tip the scales in a […]
Posted inPolitics & Policy, Public Safety, Voting
Some Black Georgians Fear What Could Happen After the Polls Close
Ace Bennett-Fludd has bad memories of what happened last time Donald Trump lost an election, and fears a similar aftermath in Georgia if the latest White House race doesn’t go the former president’s way. “I would not want to hear another story about riots happening and people being hurt,” Bennett-Fludd, a married resident of Hapeville, […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Politics & Policy
How Formerly Incarcerated Georgians Are Reclaiming Their Voting Power
Denise Ruben is getting ready to vote in a presidential election for the first time in 16 years. Back then, in 2008, a young Illinois senator named Barack Obama was preparing to make history as America’s first Black president. This year, Kamala Harris — the first Black woman to serve as vice president — hopes to follow […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Mental Health
New Atlanta Diversion Center Offers a Different Vision of Public Safety
Atlanta and Fulton County officials on Monday took a major step toward reducing local arrests with the launch of a facility intended to serve people experiencing behavioral and mental health issues. The Center for Diversion and Services is a rehabilitative hub open around the clock, seven days a week, where law-enforcement officers and community response […]
Posted inCourts, Mental Health, Reproductive Health
Georgia Is One of the Most Unsafe States to Give Birth. Abortion Limits Make It Worse.
In spite of recent reporting that directly links Georgia’s abortion restriction with the deaths of two Black women, the state Supreme Court’s decision earlier this month to temporarily reinstate the law while an appeal is in progress did not surprise leaders at the forefront of the state’s reproductive justice movement. Last month, ProPublica reported on […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Policing
Two Months Later, Family of Man Fatally Shot by Off-Duty APD Officer Is Searching for Answers
Two months have passed since Devon Anderson, 38, was killed by off-duty Atlanta police officer Melvin Potter, yet the victim’s family has had barely any communication from law enforcement authorities regarding the status of the investigation, according to his mother. Potter, who is still employed by the Atlanta Police Department, has been relieved of duty […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Atlanta Public Safety Groups to Join First Crime Survivors March on Washington
A near-death experience helped Aswad Thomas understand the connection between those who enact violence and their victims — and the many ways America is failing both. “There’s this false dichotomy that victims and quote-unquote perpetrators are different. No, we’re often in the same household,” Thomas said earlier this month, during a southwest Atlanta event for […]
Posted inCity Politics, Cop City
Activists Protest ‘Cop City’ by Dropping Thousands of Balls During City Council Meeting
Atlanta residents opposed to the public safety training center being built in South River Forest — known as “Cop City” — protested its construction by dropping 116,000 ping pong balls during a City Council meeting on Monday. Each ball was meant to symbolize one signature that organizers said they gathered for a petition to hold a ballot […]
Posted inCourts, Politics & Policy
Fani Willis Refuses to Testify in Front of Senate Committee Investigating Her
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis defied a subpoena to turn over documents and testify in front of the Georgia Senate Special Committee on Investigations Friday morning. Last week, Willis’ attorney, former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes, filed an appeal in Fulton County Superior Court asking for an injunction to block the subpoena. A ruling wasn’t […]
