CA11: Under GA law, court clerk qualified as “neutral and detached magistrate” for arrest warrants

Plaintiff “raised a section 1983 claim under the Fourth Amendment alleging that McCord did not have legal authority to issue the warrant. The district court concluded that Georgia law authorized McCord to issue warrants. Applying the Supreme Court’s two-part test in Shadwick v. City of Tampa, 407 U.S. 345, 350-51 (1972), the district court then concluded that El failed to allege that McCord was not neutral and detached or incapable of determining probable cause. The district court did not err in reaching this result.” The clerk qualified under Georgia law to find probable cause and issue warrants. Hesed-El v. McCord, 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 31573 (11th Cir. Oct. 5, 2020).