Georgia: Yates to be named to Justice post. Sally Quillian Yates, the US Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, is expected to be named Deputy Attorney General, the second-highest ranking job in the US Justice Department, reports the Washington Post. Yates, who was the first woman US Attorney in Atlanta, has 22 years experience as a prosecutor. If she is appointed and confirmed, along with Loretta Lynch, the President’s choice for attorney general, the top two Justice Department spots will be held by women for the first time in history ……. Florida: Gay marriage OK on January 5. By a 7-to-2 vote, the US Supreme Court ruled that the Sunshine State’s hold on same-sex marriage must end, pending an appeal at the 11th Circuit US Court of Appeals. Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi said “the Supreme Court has now spoken, and the stay will end on January 5.” Thirty-five states now allow same-sex matrimony ……. Tennessee: Haslam’s Medicaid plan to go before legislature. Gov. Bill Haslam (R) is expected to call a special session of the legislature in late January or early February to debate his plan to expand Medicaid coverage in a program he calls “Insure Tennessee,” reports The Tennessee Journal. Whether the expansion, which uses federal dollars and requires no tax increase, will be controversial remains to be seen …….
