Margie McRae, an African American retired surgeon, sued Glynn County officers and officials after a late-night traffic stop that she alleged was racially motivated and unsupported by reasonable suspicion. The trial court granted the defendants summary judgment after McRae failed to respond on time, entered a protective order, and later denied her motion to vacate while a motion to recuse the judge was pending. The Georgia Court of Appeals consolidated two appeals and affirmed some rulings, vacated others, and remanded. It held that the original judge’s merits ruling during the pending recusal motion was invalid after the judge recused herself. It also held that there is no “default summary judgment”: failure to respond waives the opponent’s evidentiary response but does not eliminate the court’s duty to determine whether the movant is entitled to judgment. The record still contained factual disputes about the stop, the officer’s account, and evidence relevant to qualified immunity, while McRae’s substantive claims had not been addressed. The court therefore returned the case for further proceedings, leaving the merits unresolved.