Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles – Restoration of Rights

 

Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles
Image: pap.georgia.gov

Currently working as a practicing attorney for Michael Kennedy McIntyre & Associates in Atlanta, Georgia, Michael Kennedy McIntyre practices law specifically in the area of post-conviction representation. Michael Kennedy McIntyre started his own practice over 20 years ago and works closely with the Georgia Parole Board, assisting clients with parole issues such as receiving pardons and restoration of rights.

The Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles includes several programs that can help parolees after their release, including programs that help with restoration of rights and receiving pardons. Parolees can seek the restoration of rights, such as the right to serve on a jury or to run for public office.

Parolees also have the right to petition to receive a pardon which states that the crime has been pardoned by the State of Georgia. Having the assistance of an attorney in pursuing pardons and restorations of rights can help make the process easier.

University of North Carolina School of Law – Career Development Office

University of North Carolina School of Law
Image: law.unc.edu

Before becoming a practicing attorney for Michael Kennedy McIntyre & Associates, Michael Kennedy McIntyre attended the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where he earned a bachelor of arts degree in history. Michael Kennedy McIntyre also earned his law degree at the University of North Carolina (UNC) in 1979.

Founded in 1845, the UNC School of Law received approval from the American Bar Association as an institution for legal education in 1928. The school is known for its excellent training in areas such as securities and entrepreneurial law, intellectual property, and civil rights law along with several other legal areas.

The UNC School of Law includes a career development office that helps students to create a job search strategy and learn how to prioritize career goals. The development office is designed to help provide opportunities and job prospects for students and graduates.

Georgia Parole Decision Guidelines System

Parole Decision Guidelines
Image: pap.georgia.gov

Michael Kennedy McIntyre & Associates is an Atlanta-based law firm that focuses on criminal postconviction representation, including representation before the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles. In order for the firm to evaluate a case and assess the offender’s prospects for parole, the firm must determine how the Parole Decision Guidelines System will be applied in the case. When the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles considers a case for parole, the Board receives a recommendation of months, or a percentage of the sentence, to serve based upon the Parole Decision Guidelines System, which accounts for the severity of the crime and the offender’s risk to reoffend.
In April, 2017, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles approved the first updates to the Parole Decision Guidelines System since 2007. The updated Guidelines will be implemented July 1, 2017. The Parole Board considered recent data to update the Guidelines which included new statewide sentencing averages and outcomes from previous decisions made by the Parole Board. Although the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles uses the Parole Decision Guidelines System to guide their decisions, the Parole Board has the ability to deviate from the Guidelines recommendation to either increase or lower the time to serve prior to parole. The 2017 updates to the Parole Decision Guidelines System included raising the crime severity level of certain types of convictions. The higher that the offender’s crime severity level is, the more serious the offense and the parole decision would likely be a recommendation to serve a longer period of time. Another notable update is on the risk to re-offend scale, the Parole Board will now include prior arrests in place of prior convictions for the offender.

What Is Habeas Corpus?

 

Habeas Corpus
Image: georgiapostconviction.com

Michael Kennedy McIntyre serves as an attorney with McIntyre & Associates, an Atlanta-based firm he founded in 1985. At the firm, Michael Kennedy McIntyre and his associates provide post-conviction representation for individuals who have been convicted of a felony in the State of Georgia. Mr. McIntyre and his team have experience helping clients with a variety of legal actions, including filing and litigating a state application for writ of habeas corpus. Habeas corpus petitions allege that an individual’s custody or incarceration is unconstitutional based upon what occurred prior to, or during, the individual’s trial or plea hearing. Habeas corpus is a complicated process with many possible claims that could lead to relief from convictions and sentences. The attorneys at McIntyre & Associates have decades of experience in identifying winning claims and litigating habeas corpus actions. They have the knowledge and the expertise to investigate, draft, and litigate habeas corpus actions in Georgia state courts. State habeas corpus relief can be sought by any individual imprisoned as a result of a sentence imposed by a Georgia court or by an individual who is not in physical custody but who is suffering from adverse collateral consequences (e.g., being on parole or probation) as a result of the individual’s conviction and/or sentence.