In 2008 we don't hear to much about folks being banished for certain crimes. Well, in Georgia the appellate courts are dealing with this issue. Gregory Mac Terry, who has spent the past 12 years in prison after pleading guilty on allegations that he had threatened his estranged wife, had an opportunity for parole in 2001, but he was returned to prison because his banishment from all but one of Georgia's 159 counties meant he couldn't complete a work release program that was not available in Toombs County.
The Georgia Constitution says that "[n]either banishment beyond the limits of the state nor whipping shall be allowed as a punishment for crime." But Terry's attorney says in some counties it's common for judges to employ what he calls a disingenuous technique to get around that -- banishing defendants from all but one county.
The Daily Report has this article on the case.
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