Local
Senate Bill plans to shorten probation sentences in Georgia
A new bill in the Georgia Senate is aimed at getting people off probation faster. According to WABE, the legislations “picks out” more than 20 non-violent felonies, including low-level drug charges and shoplifting. According to defense attorney David Botts, probation sentences that are from 10-20 year are counterproductive, because they create a longer time to violate the probation. After three years, if a person has kept with the terms of their probation, the probation officer would file a petition to the court for early termination. Georgia currently has the highest rate of people on probation in the country. The state’s probation rate is 6,161 adults per every 100,000 residents.
National
President Trump’s healthcare bill fails
House Republicans pulled the American Health Care Act on Friday, March 24. According to CNN, the bill was pulled due to lack of support, although President Donald Trump said “It was a very, very tight margin.” President Trump blamed the bill’s lack of favor on the Democratic representatives, not one of whom planned to cast a vote for the proposal, although Republicans hold a significant majority in the House. On Sunday morning, President Trump tweeted that the “Democrats are smiling in D.C.”
Global
Violence increases as Congolese militia groups rebel against their government
A Congolese militia group decapitated 42 policemen, as part of the large-scale violence that has been taking place in the region, since August of last year. According to ABC News, members of the Kamwina Nsapu militia ambushed the officers in Central Kasai province on Friday, March 24. More than 400 people have been killed and another 200,000 displaced due to violence within the last eight months. The violence began as a rebel against the Congolian President Joseph Kabila, after he stayed passed his time. According to Human Rights Watch, the militia has been recruiting majority of it’s members as children.
