Community Service
In 1982, Hine was elected as a Democrat to the Georgia State Senate where he served three terms before deciding not to run again in 1988. In the Senate, Hine was a leader on issues involving indigent health care and ethics.
Hine has been active in the leadership of the Annual Fund Campaign for Darlington School, and has also been an active participant in St. Peter's Episcopal Church, where he has served as a vestry member, Senior Warden, member of the Search Committee, and twice served on the long range planning committee.
In 1996, Hine was selected by the active federal judges to serve a three year term on the Bar Council, where he was the principal author of the Rules Governing the Committee on Discipline which rules were adopted by the Court.
In 2004, Hine was appointed to the Georgia Public Defenders Standards Council by the Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court. The Council was charged with implementing a state funded public defender system. Until the expiration of his appointment, Hine was a member of the Executive Committee.
But community involvement is more than service in community and state organizations. When Hine was 26 and had been practicing for just 2 years, he filed a class action to have the Floyd County Jail closed for constitutional grounds relating to the health and safety issues under which detainees were held. The suit was successful, and the County forced to build a new and constitutional facility that has served this community well.
Hine also served as co-counsel in the pron bono litigation to have the 2005 Georgia voter identification declared unconstitutional. That effort was successful when the court found that the legislation was the equivalent of an unconstitutional poll tax.
Hine is married to Linda Harris Hine and they have three grown children.
