A little petty but I think the word "mere" has a hostile tone to it. I would replace it with ordinary or just leave it citizen. I would remove that. The judge could assume you are talking about him and get his panties in a wad. Just my .02, take it for what it worth. Other then that I think it is well written and explains the position.
But he is talking about him! I agree, it bothered me when I read it, and you have put an articulate voice to my conscience. No need to upset the judge if you really want him to request an AG Opinion.
I think Molon Labe's suggestions soften the language and increase the chances that Judge Dodd will give your letter the consideration it deserves. It would be great if we had a collection of letters like these that were part of a sticky somewhere in the forum. That way when people needed a well written example to work from there would be a convenient reference available.
Much better. I like your changes. May I suggest a further revision of the following paragraph? Would your office contact the Attorney General for an updated opinion that reflects current law? As you probably already know, the Attorney General will [does] not respond to a [delete "a"] request for an opinion by [from] a[ny] citizen [of the state of Georgia], but [rather provides opinions to state officers, such as legislators, judges, or district attorneys.] I believe that the [delete "the"] opinion [delete "opinion" substitute "Unofficial Opinion U78-45] needs to be revised to reflect the statute as it currently exists. Attorney General opinions are not carved in stone but, as the Attorney General web site states, "From time to time, opinions may be withdrawn, revised or otherwise made obsolete"
So it reads as follows: Would your office contact the Attorney General for an updated opinion that reflects current law? As you probably already know, the Attorney General does not respond to requests for an opinion from any citizen of the state of Georgia, but rather provides opinions to state officers, such as legislators, judges, or district attorneys. I believe that Unofficial Opinion U78-45 needs to be revised to reflect the statute as it currently exists. Attorney General opinions are not carved in stone but, as the Attorney General web site states, "From time to time, opinions may be withdrawn, revised or otherwise made obsolete"
Too much information, I suppose. I tried for an hour, and I finally had to break that up into two posts to get the site to accept it.
Couldn't hurt. The goal is to get a Probate Judge to actually request an opinion from the Attorney General. Obviously, the more judges we push, the higher the chances are that one of them might actually do it.
I never did hear back from Judge Mary Cranford here in Coweta after sending my last letter. I agree that the more letters that are sent, the better the odds are for some action. Manwell