How does PolitiFact Georgia’s Truth-O-Meter work?
Our goal is to help you find the truth in American politics. Reporters from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution fact-check statements by local, state and national political leaders, including lobbyists and interest groups. We then rate them on the AJC Truth-O-Meter.
To fact-check a claim, reporters first contact the speaker to verify the statement. Next, the research begins. Reporters consult a variety of sources, including industry and academic experts. This research can take hours or a few days or even longer, depending on the claim. Reporters then compile the research into story form and include a recommended Truth-O-Meter ruling.
The fact check then moves on to a panel of veteran editors who debate the statement and the reporter’s recommended Truth-O-Meter ruling. The panel votes on a final ruling; majority prevails.
The scribes at PolitiFact were busy last week fact-checking yet another statement by President Barack Obama when he announced his executive order on immigration. This focused on his claim that illegal border crossings are at their lowest levels since the 1970s. We also looked at murder statistics cited by former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani in the debate over potential lessons from Ferguson, Mo. Closer to home, we looked at how Gov. Nathan Deal has done in fulfilling one of his 2010 campaign promises, and we examined the role a 2006 annexation had in Kasim Reed becoming Atlanta’s mayor.
Want to to comment on our rulings or suggest one of your own? Just go to our Facebook page (
). You can also follow us on Twitter (
). Abbreviated versions of our fact checks are below.
Full versions can be found at www.politifact.com/georgia/
———
Rudy Giuliani during an interview Nov. 23 on NBC’s “Meet the Press”: Says “93 percent of blacks in America are killed by other blacks.”
The turmoil in Ferguson, Mo., has spurred a lot of talk about what has gone wrong in America. Some say it reveals core problems in the criminal justice system and policing. Others believe it points to problems in the black community itself.
One vocal spokesman for the second approach is Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York and onetime Republican presidential hopeful. When NBC “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd brought up the number of cities where the police departments are mainly white while the communities they serve are mainly minority (as in Ferguson), Giuliani aimed to take the conversation in a different direction.
“I find it very disappointing that you’re not discussing the fact that 93 percent of blacks in America are killed by other blacks, ” Giuliani said.
His point was that the death of a black teenager at the hands of a white cop was “the exception,” and if the country is concerned about black homicides, then it would do better to focus on African-Americans.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, 93 percent of black homicides were indeed committed by other blacks between 1980 and 2008. In 2012, the most recent data posted on the Web, the figure was 91 percent.
It’s important to note that whites were almost equally likely to be killed by other whites. According to government data, 84 percent of white homicides were committed by whites. This was true between 1980 and 2008 and in 2012.
So Giuliani’s point about black-on-black homicide doesn’t carry us very far in exploring murder in America. The percentage is higher for blacks than for whites, but only by 7 to 9 percentage points, depending on the time period used.
Giuliani’s claim is accurate but needs clarification.
We rate Giuliani’s statement Mostly True.
——-
Barack Obama in a speech Nov. 20: “Overall, the number of people trying to cross our border illegally is the lowest it has been since the 1970s.”
During his speech to the nation about his executive action on immigration, President Barack Obama talked up his efforts to secure the border.
“Overall, the number of people trying to cross our border illegally is at its lowest level since the 1970s,” he said. “Those are the facts.”
We can’t know for certain how many illegal immigrants have tried to cross the border. We can only examine data that show how many have been apprehended or managed to settle here.
Using Border Patrol data, we found Obama is correct on the sheer number of people caught trying to cross the border. In 2013, about 420,000 illegal immigrants were apprehended at the border. The last time it was lower than that was 1972. After that year, apprehensions steadily rose throughout the 1970s, ending at just shy of 900,000 in 1979.
Experts noted, however, that Obama is creating an imperfect comparison because the border situation was far different in 1970 than it has been in more recent years. In the 1970s, it was easier for people to make multiple attempts or excursions illegally across the border.
On a final note, it’s problematic for Obama to assume credit for the low numbers, as the trend started before he took office and the flow of immigrants across the border tends to correlate with economic conditions at least partially outside the president’s control.
We rate the president’s statement Half True.
——-
Nathan Deal 2010 campaign promise: Will build more HOV/toll lanes
High occupancy toll (HOT) lanes opened along I-85 in DeKalb and Gwinnett counties in 2011 (from Chamblee-Tucker Road to Old Peachtree Road). Pending environmental approval, a 10-mile extension, costing $110 million, will be added from Old Peachtree Road north to Hamilton Mill Road and is set to open in summer 2018.
Also in the works:
- Forecast to open in early 2018: The "Northwest Corridor" project will add 29.7 miles of toll lanes along I-75 from Akers Mill Road to Hickory Grove Road and along I-575 from I-75 to Sixes Road. (Two express lanes will be built to the west of the existing lanes along I-75 between I-285 and I-575. From that interchange, one express lane will be added along I-75 north to Hickory Grove Road and one express lane will be added along I-575 to Sixes Road.) Projected cost: $834.1 million.
- Forecast to open in early 2017: I-75 South Metro express lanes. Toll lanes begin on I-75 south of Atlanta at Ga. 155/McDonough Road and end at Ga. 138/Stockbridge Highway, including about 12 miles of managed lanes. (Two reversible express lanes will be in the median of I-75.) Projected cost: $176 million.
The Northwest Corridor and I-75 South express lanes are to be new capacity, reversible toll lanes. They are not HOT lanes because only registered transit and emergency vehicles will be exempt from the tolls.
We rated this a Promise Kept.
——-
Keisha Lance Bottoms on Nov. 28 in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed became a city resident in the last annexation, opening the door to his candidacy.
As Atlanta considers annexing North Druid Hills in DeKalb County and Sandtown in Fulton County, one city councilwoman mentioned what recent annexations have meant to the city.
“You brought in a mayor with the last annexation,” District 11 Councilwoman Keisha Lance Bottoms said.
Bottoms was referring to Mayor Kasim Reed and an annexation in 2006 of what is now known as southwest Atlanta. (A smaller annexation in 2007 was the city’s last.)
Reed lived in Loch Lochman Estates during the 2006 annexation. That subdivision is literally down the street from what became Atlanta – but it was not included in the expansion. Today, it remains part of the unincorporated county.
But Reed’s spokeswoman said that annexation did prompt him to move to Midwest Cascade, which became part of the city in 2006. He still lives there.
“He moved, but he is in the same neighborhood,” spokeswoman Anne Torres said. “So the councilwoman is right to say that annexation did bring him in.”
We won’t quibble with Bottoms’ reference to the last annexation, considering the small size of the 2007 additions.
But she is on point, that the 2006 annexation did prompt Reed to move to a different house in the same neighborhood so he could be a city resident.
We rate Bottoms’ claim Mostly True.
About the Author
