The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia has ruled in favor of a GCO member that sued the Henry County Probate Judge. The court found that the probate judge violated the federal Privacy Act by failing to provide the required warning when the GCO member was asked for his social security number on his GFL application. Because of this violation, the court ordered the probate judge to provide the proper warning in the future if social security numbers are requested (as a result of a separate case, most probate judges no longer request social security numbers). The court also found that the probate judge violated Georgia law by failing to issue the GFL within 60 days of the application. As a result of this violation, the court ordered the probate judge to abide by Georgia law for future GFL applications. Finally, the court ruled that the probate judge must pay reasonable attorney’s fees, in an amount to be determined from future court filings.
