Fulton court reassigns burglary cases, citing citizen concerns

By Bill Rankin

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Citing community concerns, Fulton County's chief Superior Court judge on Friday said she is changing the way burglary cases will be handled -- and the new arrangement will likely mean stiffer sentences for people who break into homes and businesses.

Magistrate judges who are appointed to their positions will no longer decide burglary cases and impose sentences, many of which have been criticized by community leaders as too lenient. The county's elected Superior Court judges will begin hearing all burglary cases beginning June 21, Chief Judge Cynthia Wright said.

"I'm ecstatic about that," George Turner, Atlanta's interim police chief, said. "At just about every community meeting I've gone to people are up in arms about burglaries and the types of sentences they are getting. The complaints are that burglars too often are getting right back out on the streets."

Monica O'Neal, president of the East Lake Neighbors Community Association, also welcomed the change, although she cited recent statistics that show a drop in crime in her area. "I'm glad they are going to take a different and stronger stance on this," she said.

In a statement, Wright said she and her fellow judges "have listened to input from our citizens and have taken their concerns to heart. We are making this change so that we can adequately review the charges, a defendant's past criminal history, impose appropriate sentences and be held accountable by the public for the sentence imposed."

At this point, Wright said, the court believes it is more appropriate to reassign burglary cases because of the "increasing incidence of burglary and the increasing incidence of violent burglary."

In recent years, nonviolent burglary cases have been assigned to the court's Felony Fast-Track program and handled by magistrate judges. The program, initiated in 2006, has been credited with reducing the court's backlog of nonviolent drug and property crime cases by 40 percent and giving Superior Court judges more time to deal with the more serious cases involving violent crime.

Under the Fast-Track program, almost all nonviolent cases are disposed of within nine weeks after a suspect is arrested.