Atlanta Unfiltered

More than 90 state lawmakers — and one newcomer — collected $530,000 in campaign contributions this spring even though they will coast to election in November without a fight,an analysis of campaign records shows. More than half of that cash flowed to just 10 of them. Full Story

#10: Renewing your medical license …

A tip on making ends meet in a tough economy: Find ways to get someone else to pay your personal expenses. That’s how U.S. Rep. Phil Gingrey does it. In November, his campaign fund paid $400 to the State of Georgia Medical Board for “renewal fees.” UPDATE: The congressman conceded Thursday that his campaign had made an “administrative error” and said he had reimbursed his campaign. Click here and WXIA-TV’s Jon Shirek will tell you all about it. Full Story

Georgia legislators cannot accept campaign contributions while they are in session. Except when they can. Four lawmakers running for Congress collected more than $343,000 in campaign funds between them while the General Assembly was in session this year, federal campaign filings show. Rep. Clay Cox, seeking the seat being vacated by Congressman John Linder, led the pack with $114,712. Full Story

Just over a week ago, when Kenneth Feinberg took over handling of damage claims from the Gulf oil spill, he promised to cut through the delays and confusion common under the much-maligned BP system. But Feinberg’s goals – particularly his pledge to respond to personal claims for emergency payments within 48 hours – may be overly ambitious. Applicants say that they have not received responses within two days of filing claims and have encountered an array of service problems. Full Story

The federal government has lost eight of 15 cases in which Guantánamo inmates have said they or witnesses against them were forcibly interrogated. That’s according to a review of 31 published decisions that resolve lawsuits filed by 52 captives who said they’ve been wrongfully detained. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly and others rejected government evidence because of interrogation tactics ranging from verbal threats to physical abuse they called torture. More than 50 such lawsuits are still pending, two years after the U.S. Supreme Court gave Guantánamo inmates the green light to challenge their detention in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Full Story

Lowe’s Companies Inc., the nation’s No. 2 home improvement chain, has set off a legal firestorm by agreeing to a $6.5 million national settlement over tainted drywall in a class-action suit being decided by Muscogee County Superior Court Judge Bobby Peters. The $6.5 million settlement would pay relatively small amounts — Lowe’s gift cards in amounts ranging from $50 to $2,000 — to most victims who had the tainted drywall in their homes. But the handful of attorneys who quietly negotiated the deal will receive a separate payment of $2.1 million. Full Story

Former Superior Court Judge Brooks E. Blitch III of Clinch County was sentenced Tuesday to three years’ probation and fined $100,000 after pleading guilty to fraud in federal court in Macon. Blitch’s crime was punishable by up to 20 years in prison but he avoided prison time under the plea agreement. Prosecutors dropped the remaining charges in a 78-page indictment that accused Blitch, among other things, of appointing friends to judgeships and other court jobs that required little or no work. In his plea, Blitch admitted releasing three criminal defendants from jail in 2006 and 2007 after… Full Story

The Georgia Supreme Court accepted Charles A. Thomas Jr.’s surrender of his law license today. Maybe he can be a “jailhouse lawyer” while he’s serving his six-year prison sentence for theft and forgery. Thomas, a member of the Georgia House from 1979 through 1994, sold title insurance for Stewart Title Guaranty Co. until losing that privilege in 2004. Since then, Thomas continued to offer title insurance to clients, forging the policies and collecting the premiums for himself. Full Story

In 2007, Rudy Eller hid a gun fired by his chief deputy in a domestic dispute and lied to GBI investigators about it. A year later, Eller pleaded guilty to making false statements, tampering with evidence, hindering apprehension of a criminal, and violating his oath of office. Eller’s lawyer and the district attorney asked the judge to show mercy on Eller, who suffers from diabetes and emphysema. But Superior Court Judge Lynn Alderman was unmoved: “The court is in the business of justice. Mercy is for the Lord and other parties who are not here today.” Full Story