Court of Appeals of Georgia

Court Centennial Committee Meeting

June 23, 2005

Third Floor Conference Room

Judicial Building

Atlanta, Georgia

Attendees:	Chief Judge John H. Ruffin, Jr., Chair

Judge Anne Elizabeth Barnes	Judge M. Yvette Miller

Ms. Laurie Speed-Dalton, Attorney	Mr. Robert Feagin, Attorney

Mr. Lendon Gibbs, Attorney	Mr. Scott Henwood, Reporter
Mr. Bill Martin, Clerk.	Mr. Jeff Milstein, Law Dept.
Ms. Jill Pryor, Attorney	Representative Wendell Willard
Ms. Dianne Joy, COA	Mr. Bob McAteer, COA
Ms. Kate Ripple, COA	Ms. Holly Sparrow, COA

1.	The Chairman called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m. After a
welcome and introductions, the Agenda was approved and Judge Ruffin
asked Dianne Joy to report on the progress of the committee and the
items that needed to be addressed at this meeting.

2.	Following an overview from Dianne Joy of the proposed events for the
Centennial celebration, Judge Ruffin asked her to talk about each event
in the order of her handout.

3.	Centennial Dinner - The first item discussed was the proposed dinner to
be held on October 3, 2006. Ms. Joy explained that the committee had
previously decided that a downtown venue would be the location for a
dinner. She mentioned that the best bargain in terms of cost of the
venues she had explored was the World Congress Center. After a
discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of this location, a
motion was made by Judge Miller to choose the World Congress Center
as the location for the Centennial dinner, the motion was seconded by
Judge Barnes and approved by the members. Ms. Joy was asked to
determine if a valet parking service could be arranged for the guests.

Next Ms. Joy presented keynote speaker suggestions for the dinner.

(See attached list at the back of the handout.)

Chief Judge Ruffin asked that the committee add Judge Rosemary
Barkett and Judge Stanley Birch of the Eleventh Circuit Federal Court
of Appeals to the list. Judge Ruffin then asked if any of the members
had additional suggestions. Mr. Feagin mentioned Ted Olsen, former
U.S. Solicitor General who now practices law in Washington, D.C. He
showed the group a recent editorial by Mr. Olsen. He also proposed
that former Senator Sam Nunn who was one of his law school friends
and Robert Gray, ABA President, be included on the speaker list. Judge
Ruffin pointed out that since there was still time to contact potential
speakers, the members should continue to provide additional
suggestions until the September meeting during which time the members
will select and prioritize speakers for the event.

4.	Proclamation Session at Capitol - There being no need to discuss oral
arguments around the state, Ms. Joy pointed out that the Governor's
office was willing to do a proclamation for the Court. There was a
discussion of having the General Assembly give a resolution honoring
the Court on the opening day of the session. It was agreed to follow up
this suggestion this fall.

5.	Education Initiative - There was a discussion of a possible essay or
oratorical contest to be sponsored by the Court. The Chairman
indicated his preference for an oratory contest since people can see the
contestants. Ms. Pryor suggested holding an initial essay round with
the oratory competition being reserved for the final round. and also
approaching the Lawyers Foundations of Georgia for a grant for the
problem. Others suggested that preliminary oratory rounds be conducted
similar to the Bar Association's moot court competition and that each
school participating choose a winner to limit the effort required by the
Court. Ms. Joy indicated that only about one-third of the schools would
probably participate.

Chief Judge Ruffin stated that he would select a subcommittee and appoint	a Chairperson to outline a competition using the points provided by Ms.
Joy (See handout attachment -Court Education Initiative - although the

competition would be an oratory rather than an essay contest) and to report	its plan to the full Committee in September.

6.	Court History Video - The Chairman asked Mr. McAteer to report on
the progress of the video. Mr. McAteer introduced his assistant for the
video, GSU student, Kate Riddle. Mr. McAteer reported that the Court
had received a grant from the Civil Justice Foundation, the grant would
be administered by the Justice Served, Inc. Foundation, and that most of
the money would be used to purchase historical photos for the video
and to make duplicates of the video master. He noted that some of the
historical museums require the payment of a licensing fee for each use
of one of their photos.

As to the progress of the interviews, Mr. McAteer stated that 12
of approximately 20 interviews were complete and he expected to begin
interviews of the current judges at the end of July. He presented the
following time line for the video.

August	Complete Interviews

October	Prepare Preliminary Script

December	Finish Final Script

January	Complete All Research

March	Prepare Draft Video

June	Complete Second Draft

August	Prepare Final Version of Video.

7.	Founding Date Ceremony - The Chairman queried the members as to
whether this event should be included in the Centennial projects. It was
the consensus of the members to hold this event possibly in the
Appropriations Room on October 3, 2006. This occasion was suggested
as a good place to introduce the video and Court History Book. There was
also a discussion of whether to hold oral arguments or to present historical
arguments by role play during the ceremony.

8.	Public Media Events - Ms. Joy indicated that the Layman's Lawyer is no
longer produced on GPTV although there is a legal Spanish program and
a radio call- in show. Chief Judge Ruffin asked that members continue to
consider how the Court might obtain media attention for the
Centennial.

9.	Court History Book - The Chairman reported that he had spoken to
Professor Lanier who stated he is currently working not only on the Court
History, but several other books and that his assistants had not progressed
on the history. He wanted the Court to personally contact his assistants to
motivate them.

As a result of this information, Charles Adams a member of the
committee and editor of the Southern Legal History Journal had
suggested that the Court take another track to create a Court History Book.	He had informed Judge Ruffin that Tom Watson Brown had obtained
permission for the	Mercer University Press to print the Court History in
the journal at the Southern Legal History Foundation's request. The Court's	history can be divided into 4 - 25 year time periods, and Mr. Adams has
already acquired the services of Clifford Adams and Bob Tanner to
author two of the 4 planned chapters. The History would be available
to the Georgia Appellate Judiciary to use as it sees fit.

At Judge Ruffin's suggestion, the committee voted to inform Professor
Lanier of their decision to terminate its arrangements with him and to
work	with the Southern Legal History Foundation on the Court History
book.

10.	Judge Ruffin passed around to the members a proposal regarding fund
raising for the Centennial from a company, Rainmaker and Associates,
noting that the proposal would be taken up at the next meeting.

11.	The Chairman next asked Mr. Gibbs to give the members an update on
the Justice Served Foundation. Mr. Gibbs explained that the Board
members had been designated and the application for non-profit
incorporation status had been made. He stated that the Board should
receive approval from the federal government of its application for non-
profit status in about 120 days. The Board plans to hold its first meeting
in July.

12.	Committee Membership - Judge Ruffin informed the committee that
Harold Melton wishes to continue to serve on the committee after his
appointment to the Supreme Court, but the Governor may decide to also
designate a successor representative member. In addition, Judge Ruffin
stated that he had asked Bobby Jones, III to join the committee.

Thereafter, there being no further business, Judge Ruffin adjourned the meeting.

Respectfully submitted,

_____________________________________

Holly K. O. Sparrow

Deputy Court Administrator

Court of Appeals of Georgia

Minutes approved by the Court Centennial

Committee on the_____ day of , 2005