ALBANY -- Lena Baker, a black maid executed in Georgia's electric chair more than 60 years ago for killing a white man she claimed was threatening her life and holding her in slavery, is to receive a posthumous pardon from the state.

ATLANTA - Georgia's Board of Pardons and Paroles has the final say on death penalty cases and decides when inmates are ready to go free. But for the past nine months, its two most prominent members have been on the flip side of the justice system, as investigators seek to determine whether the men used their positions to break the law.

The Georgia Supreme Court has suspended Augusta attorney Wayne P. Thigpen from the practice of law.

...state's new juvenile justice commissioner moments after Mr. Walker took the oath as the newest member of Georgia's Board of Pardons and Paroles. "Orlando Martinez is recognized as one of the outstanding nationwide authorities in juvenile justice...

Few are taking issue with Georgia's Board of Pardons and Paroles decision that persons convicted of certain categories of violent felony crimes not covered by the "two strikes and in for life law," will henceforth serve at least 90 percent of their time. The question is why is the board -- which has a terrible history of releasing dangerous thugs on the streets after they've only served a third or less of their time -- doing this now?

Last week's freeing of Florida's "vampire rapist" and the release of two murderers in Georgia who are now facing new charges of murder and rape are setting up parole boards for sneering criticism. But at least in states such as Georgia, where a massive prison-building program has led to a surplus of prison beds and a parole board made up of former law enforcement officers, those convicted of violent crimes in the mid-1990s aren't slipping through a revolving door.