Franklin v. Hill

Although I concur in the majority’s holding that OCGA § 51-1-16 violates equal protection, I write separately to urge a new method for reviewing the validity of statutes that focuses not on the application of traditional constitutional and interpretive principles but rather on what, in many cases, would be the less strained approach of examining whether the statute has become obsolete since its enactment. In this case, I believe that § 51-1-16, which was enacted in 1863, has become hopelessly obsolete in the last 131 years and therefore may not be enforced.

Obviously, courts should be…