I guess we'll do this race security craze until we get tired of this routine and then it will be back to business as usual.

Let the games begin!

@Realist: Great post. Sorry I'm just getting around to reading it. I take issue with you on at least two points. First, Rushing people like Jamie Hood down to the lethal injection chamber because we are 100% sure of his guilt tends to create the unintended consequence of graying the line between being 100% sure and only 99% sure. 98% sure. 97% sure. To have the effect you want, I would argue, we would need to arrest Jamie Hood, interrogate him briefly, and walk him out onto the steps of the courthouse where a firing squad is waiting. That's the kinda thing they do in places we consider far less civilized. But it works....great.

Second, our justice system is designed to let people abuse it. I mean that to say that we would rather "let 1000 guilty men go free before we convict 1 innocent man." And we do! Feels like a slap in the face to people like you and me when the guilty men play that system to their advantage. However, it also means that you and I are very, VERY unlikely to be convicted of crimes we didn't commit. Unless of course we happen to be black, male, poor, uneducated, etc. But that's this whole other conversation.

Thank you for that.

@Ben Had:

1. Having a wife and keeping her somewhere else for 70% of the time is the key to a long and successful marriage. Well played, sir.

2. The law, at least in this state, is very specific about where you need to be licensed. I don't have it in front of me but it first says that if you are here for more than 30 days you need a GA license. It calls you a resident if you live here and, with the exception, of brief absences occasionally, you plan to keep living here. If you move back and forth between states every 31st day, it seems that you would need to keep swapping licenses in order to comply with the law.

3. In reality, you only have one primary residence, as far as I can tell. You can own as many houses in an as many places are you like. However, you only claim homestead in one of them. You only file income taxes to one state revenue authority, etc.

4. I guess there are some odd situations. But for the most part, the people who illegally cling to licenses from other states are not juggling wives and homes like you are.

[quote][b]Realist[/b] - @1inthestink: Capital punishment WOULD be a deterrent IF it were exercised swiftly. It is not effective now because no example is made for others to learn from. Other countries that have stricter laws and harsher punishment which IS a major deterrent to the population.
[/quote]

I agree with you 100%. Your claim is based solidly in psychological principles. The closer the punishment is to the offense, the more effective it is. However, the way to get that to work is to administer the punishment right after the guy kills someone - not two-plus years later when the case is ever tried in court. Capital cases cost millions of dollars and take so much time because we want to be absolutely sure we are doing the right thing. Honorable if you ask me. However, everyone knows that innocent people are on death row and innocent people have been killed. So not even our multimillion dollar investment in procedure and due process is having the effect we want it to have.

P.S. Psychology does suggest that quick correction is the best method. But really, whose behavior is modified when the guy you taught the lesson to is dead? I'll have to research whether or not the learning can be transferred to other people by proxy.

One man's careful consideration of his actions and their consequences proves nothing about the broader, observable patterns of criminal behavior with respect to murders. In most cases, people are killed in the heat of the moment or in carefully plotted murders. In the case of the former, emotions are too high to consider what statutes happen to be on the books. The latter, people expect to get away with the crime. In most cases they don't. However, if you are convinced that you will never be caught, then it doesn't matter what the penalty is.

[quote][b]grove600[/b] - @retiredandhappy:
Maybe the law should say "residing" instead of living. Students residence is generally that of their parents. They don't reside here, pay non-resident tuition (we hope), and so their other state license, if otherwise valid, would be valid here. [/quote]

How one can claim to "reside" somewhere else and have an apartment, job, and school in Georgia is beyond me. "I am in Georgia for 9-12 months a year but I 'reside' in some other state." Ridiculous.

[quote][b]ppensyl[/b] - Too many privledges to prisoners. When you give a murderer a life sentence, what has he got to lose in there? TV's, weight rooms, all the things prisoners shouldn't have but get because it's apparently cruel and unusual. Our Military lives in worse conditions than many inmates.
"Justice" system my behind. Justice works two ways, both the criminal and the victim deserve it, in our system only the criminal gets' "justice", they don't worry about the victims.
[/quote]

Too many spelling and grammar rules to follow to get out a decent comment.

Every time some heinous murder is committed, people run right to the death penalty as an answer. I'm all for the death penalty for what it is - punishment and revenge. But PLEASE stop fooling yourself into thinking the death penalty makes anyone safe or prevents ANY murders. It makes that one guy unavailable to kill anyone else.

There have been studies since at least the 70s that show how the death penalty does nothing to reduce violent crime. In the states (and Canada) where there is no death penalty, the murder rates are much MUCH lower.

In states like Georgia and Florida, we desperately need the death penalty because we fail our children (especially poor ones) so much more. It's our last attempt to pretend that we have solved the problem.

[quote][b]shrapnel[/b] - REST IN PEACE, BUDDY. I know that you are watching over us.
You know the deal.
[/quote]

Creepy.

[quote][b]Realist[/b] - RIP Buddy. Bad luck for you that day.
There are much better pictures for the slide show that could have been used. The motorcycle motorcade, the people lining the street, those are powerful photos.
[/quote]

Lame comment. Hands down.

[quote][b]Watchman[/b] - @ Karah L Hancock:
If you are going to write an article honoring this good man, at least get the facts straight! He was not responding to an officer being shot. He was sitting in his car writing a report when the events unfolded and Jamie Hood shot two officers and then ran past his car and shot him through the window. Buddy was no threat to Hood. He was victim of being in Hood's path as he fled after shooting two officers.
Incorrect articles can alter the outcomes of future trials, so get it straight.
Buddy Christian was a good man and a friend to everyone who met him. Let's at least get that accurate.
[/quote]

Yea....umm....that's actually not what happened. Buddy's car was in the middle of Sycamore Drive when he was killed. No police officer stops in the middle of the roadway to "write a report." Further, Jamie Hood didn't shoot two officers and then go kill Buddy. Buddy was the second officer who was shot.

How bout you get your incorrect details straight before you tell someone else about their incorrect details. Your whole comment is a waste.

Talking on a cell phone while you are driving is illogical, not illegal.

And I like how the judge transitioned from "a little sore" to "a lot sore" in a split second's time. One wouldn't want statements in the newspaper to diminish the value of the coming settlement check.

I demand that Sheriff Berry personally give all press releases regarding his office's investigation of child molestation and child pornography.

Yikes! He probably shouldn't have prepared and filed those motions in court if he was planning to claim incompetency.

This is a HUGE relief. Cuz what this world needs is more people birthed in Arkansas.

[quote][b]Yellow Dog[/b] - @dahreese: Do you think the State's mad rush to increase revenues might have something to do with covering the costs to the State for federally (Obama) mandated programs?
[filtered word] rolls downhill.
[/quote]

This state has been in a mess financially for longer than Obama's been in the White House. Nice try, though.

And since this state is a subsidy state to begin with, we are pretty much one big "federally mandated program."

They do this in Athens too.

Slow news day?

The NRA and its minions are an embarrassment to this country. They are also a very effective way to ensure that Republicans continue to lose power in this country. Keep it up, geniuses!!!

This story is very touchy feely for the gun types....it SURE does leave out a BIG chapter in the history of that store.

I love how you mention law enforcement in the story but don't mention the biggest law enforcement issue related to this family and store.

Boring if you ask me..

You dopes are all very misdirected concerning my comment. I don't in any way suggest that she should have done anything differently. However, to see a bunch of idiots show up here and bask in the afterglow of victory is somewhat disturbing. Shooting someone in front of your children may be 100% necessary as it seems to have been in this case. It is never, however, "good" to have to do that. If you ask someone who has done it they will tell you that killing someone is crummy even if it you had no other choice.

P.S. -- Anyone who breaks into my house will meet the same fate as the guy in this story. I just hate the idea that my kids will be going to school with your kids because you are raising your kids to celebrate violence -- I'm not.

Interesting society we live in when otherwise decent people show up to celebrate violence. Sure the woman has a right to protect herself and her children. Just kinda odd how you all are so entertained by this story.

I was under the impression that everyone in Banks County had been born in a Walmart bathroom.