About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 30, 2018)
LOCA^STATE The Times, Gainesville, Georgia | gainesvilletimes.com Sunday, December 30, 2018 3C COLLINS ■ Continued from 1C CSPAN I For The Times This screen capture from C-SPAN shows Rep. Doug Collins shaking President Trump’s hand during the signing ceremony for the First Step Act at the White House in Washington, DC, on Friday, Dec. 21,2018. A prisoner who completes a pro gram could receive time credits of 10 days for every 30 days of suc cessful participation in a program. “A prisoner determined by the Bureau of Prisons to be at a mini mum or low risk for recidivating, who, over (two) consecutive assess ments, has not increased their risk of recidivism, shall earn an addi tional (five) days of time credits for every 30 days of successful par ticipation in evidence-based recid ivism reduction programming or productive activities,” according to the legislation. Prisoners who committed vio lent crimes, terrorism, certain sexually-based offenses and some drug distribution crimes are ineli gible for the time credits. Collins said the reform was a result of “old-school” legislating, where the House of Representa tives worked to create the strongest bill possible while collaborating with the Senate and White House. “We knew that the Senate was a little bit further ahead on some sentencing reforms and other areas than the House was, so what we did was provide the base bill for prison reform and issues with time credits to get it over to the Senate, where we knew they would be able to add some of the sentencing provisions that we probably didn’t want to start with in the House (of Representatives),” Collins said, as the House prepared for a version to come back from the Senate. A separate bill sponsored by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, was intro duced in the Senate in November, which included language about expanded judicial discretion on mandatory minimum sentencing. Another section included a “retro active application” of the Fair Sen tencing Act of 2010, which would allow prisoners sentenced before that act to petition the court for a review in their case because of the “100-to-l disparity in sentenc ing between crack and powder cocaine,” according to a fact sheet by the Judiciary Committee. Collins said he was “very pleased with the product that came out.” Collins lauded the work by the state of Georgia and Hall County’s accountability courts. Hall Coun ty’s Drug Court began in 2001, and the county’s suite of courts has now expanded to include DUI Court, Family Treatment Court and a Vet erans Court. GED ■ Continued from 1C The Gainesville/Hall County Alliance for Literacy alone reports that it has helped 4,951 people attain their GEDs between 1995 and 2016. GED recipients have bet ter prospects of higher-pay ing work and, of course, the opportunity to pursue post secondary education. However, the GED test was redesigned in 2014, and passing rates fell, perhaps, correspondingly. And the number of people taking the exam dropped by more than 50 percent. The National Council of State Directors of Adult Edu cation reports that the addi tion of two new high school equivalency exams con tributed to the decrease in participation. Earning her GED was a real struggle, Kleinhardt admits. Drug addiction, jail, family treatment court, a child with cancer. Homeless at eight months pregnant. These have been moments in her and her partner’s lives. “My whole life really just turned upside down,” Klein hardt said. But it’s been flipped back, mostly right side up - and not just with a GED in hand, but with Kleinhardt’s children at home and a new hope she has set to be the best example pos sible for them. “If I can do that, I’m sure I can go through some college courses,” she said. Now enrolled at Brenau University and ready for classes to begin in January, Kleinhardt intends to pursue a degree in psychology. She wants to help others who have gone through the same trials and tribulations she has experienced. “My dream job is to be a drug and alcohol counselor,” she said. “There are not near enough counselors.” Kleinhardt already is help ing through mentoring and sponsoring other women in Alcoholics Anonymous groups, she said. Kleinhardt is also ready for the challenges college will bring, she said, because she wants to be there. She wants to be there for her two children still at home, and she wants to be there to chase the dreams that have been on hold for too many years. “It makes me realize every day what could have been,” she said. Kleinhardt’s advice to oth ers thinking about pursuing a GED or going back to college? “It’s never too late,” she said. SCOTT ROGERS I The Times Jessica Kleinhardt and daughter Addysun Turner, 3, walk across the lawn while visiting Brenau University Dec. 18. Lynching marker vandalized for second time in five years Associated Press VALDOSTA - A marker identifying the location of one of the most gruesome lynchings in Georgia his tory has once again been vandalized. The Mary Turner and the Lynching Rampage histori cal marker was riddled with bullet holes for the second time in five years, The Val dosta Daily Times reported. In an email to the newspa per Thursday, Mary Turner Project coordinator Mark Patrick George said the marker was shot 13 times in the last two to three months. It was shot five times in July 2013. The marker is dedicated to 13 lynching victims killed in Lowndes and Brooks counties. George said the Mary Turner Project is offering a $200 reward to anyone who comes forward with infor mation about the vandalism. “Although there is little our organization can do to stop these acts of hatred, and given we live in one of the few states that does not have hate crime laws, the Mary Turner Project is con tacting members of the press and local elected officials for your assistance,” George said in an email. Lowndes County Sheriff Ashley Paulk said a deputy met Thursday with George to document the vandalism. Investigators have no leads regarding who shot the sign or if the vandalism was a targeted hate crime. “You can’t really classify it as attacking Mary Turn er’s sign, so we can’t say if it’s any kind of hate crime,” Paulk said. “There’s no way to prove it or accuse some body of it.” When the marker was damaged five years ago, the organization also offered a $200 reward for additional information, but no one came forward. George said neither inci dent of vandalism comes as a surprise, though he doesn’t want to speculate it has any ties to racism. Mary Turner was eight months pregnant when her ankles were tied and she was lynched by a mob at the Lowndes-Brooks county line in 1918. Her husband was one of the 13 lynching victims commemorated by the marker. Turner’s outcry over her husband’s death led to her lynching. “It’s interesting that this has been a target at least twice,” George said. “We treat this as a sacred place because this is where she was killed, and this was basically her tombstone because her body was never recovered. What people are desecrating is basically a tombstone.” As previously announced, starting Dec. 24 The Times will no longer publish print editions on Monday and Tuesdays. News will continue to be updated daily on our website, www.gainesvilletimes.com. Some of the features normally found in the Monday and Tuesday editions will be moved to other days of publication. If you are a subscriber and have problems accessing the website, please email webmaster@gainesvilletimes.com for help. Home delivery of The Times will continue Wednesday through Sunday. The Times offices will closed New Year’s Day. 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