Bill Rankin

News reporter, courts and legal affairs

Bill Rankin joined The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 1989, three years after his father, Jim Rankin (who is now deceased), retired from the paper after 26 years. For most of his time at the AJC, Bill has covered criminal justice, legal affairs and Georgia and federal courts.

Latest from Bill Rankin

High court denies Warren Hill’s petition

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to consider Warren Hill’s bid to halt his execution on claims he is mentally retarded.Hill’s lawyers had filed the petition directly to the high court, saying they now have evidence that shows they can prove Hill is mentally retarded and thus ineligible for ...

Willis ordered to be disbarred

The Georgia Supreme Court on Monday ordered that Atlanta City Councilman Lamar Willis be disbarred from practicing law because of ethical breaches.The court said Willis violated a number of professional conduct rules that govern the legal profession. The most serious was Willis’ representation of a client in a personal injury ...

Rescue-dog project honors slain court reporter

Jan Lopez got the idea not long after her fellow court reporter, Julie Ann Brandau, was killed in the Fulton County courthouse shootings on March 11, 2005.When Lopez, a court reporter in Los Angeles, learned that Brandau loved dogs she asked court reporters nationwide to begin raising money to sponsor ...

Suit: Grady County court forced hundreds to pay unauthorized fees

A southwest Georgia county has been collecting unauthorized court costs from hundreds of criminal defendants, many of whom could not afford to hire their own lawyers, a federal lawsuit alleges.The lawsuit seeks to stop Grady County State Court from collecting “administrative costs” from defendants. In 2011 and 2012, the county ...

Lawsuit filed over “unauthorized” court costs

A southwest Georgia county has been collecting unauthorized court costs from hundreds of criminal defendants, many of whom are poor and unable to afford their own lawyers, a federal lawsuit alleges. The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Albany, seeks to stop Grady County State Court from collecting “administrative costs” from defendants ...

Golick campaign awards scholarships

State Rep. Rich Golick, R-Smyrna, has announced the two winners of his annual State House Scholarship Fund — awards his campaign committee have given to students in his district over the past 15 years. The $1,000 scholarships were given to Rayleigh Rozier, a Campbell High School graduate and a University ...

Law school looking for new dean

Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School has launched a search for a new dean because of the upcoming retirement of Richardson Lynn. Lynn, who joined the law school in 2006, recently announced he will step down next year. The school is forming a search committee to find a successor to lead ...

Court disbars Atlanta lawyer

The Georgia Supreme Court on Monday disbarred Atlanta lawyer Ralph Joseph Hiers from practicing law for abandoning a client.Hiers, a Georgia lawyer since 1996, previously received a reprimand in June 2012, the court noted. In the present case, Hiers was retained by a woman in a 2011 divorce case but, ...

Marietta lawyer disbarred by high court

Marietta lawyer Carin Astrid Burgess on Monday was disbarred from the practice of law by the Georgia Supreme Court, which found the fact she had no prior disciplinary history did not mitigate her repeated violations.The court noted that six formal complaints had been filed against Burgess, who asked the court ...

Court disbars Roswell attorney

The Georgia Supreme Court on Monday disbarred Roswell attorney Michael David Mann from the practice of law for repeatedly abandoning his clients. Mann represented two criminal defendants in DeKalb County but failed to appear for scheduled hearings and for trial, and a judge found he made a false statement as ...