May 19, 2013
ATLANTA (AP) -- State courts are still grappling with the prickly
legal question of whether banishment of criminals should be banned
despite a Georgia Supreme Court ruling that upheld the tactic.
The state's judges are technically outlawed from banishing offenders, but some have skirted the rule by restricting them from vast portions of Georgia.
David Nathan Thompson is a mentally ill convict who is challenging the practice, claiming it's unconstitutional. He moved to west Georgia after he was restricted from living in the northern part of the state, and he says he can't get the support he needs from his family there.
Despite losing a Georgia Court of Appeals decision this week, Thompson's attorneys are vowing to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
