ATLANTA– A Georgia judge has rejected a preliminary objection to blocking a commission created to discipline and fire state prosecutors, saying it does not violate the U.S. or state constitutions.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Paige Reese Whitaker on Tuesday denied a request for an injunction against the Georgia Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission, which was revived this year by Republican lawmakers after creating it in 2023.
Democrats fear the commission has one primary goal: to send Fulton County off the rails District Attorney Fani Willis ‘prosecution of former President Donald Trump. Republicans, however, say it is necessary to discipline so-called rogue prosecutors who refuse to enforce the law.
Republican Governor Brian Kemp signed legislation The commission was established last year, but it could not begin functioning because the state Supreme Court refused to approve rules that regulates its conduct. The justices said they had “serious doubts” about the high court’s ability to regulate the decisions of district attorneys.
Lawmakers subsequently removed the requirement for court approval, a change Kemp signed into lawThe committee started its work on April 1.
Republicans in Tennessee, Missouri,Indiana, Pennsylvania And Florida have pushed back against prosecutors who announced they would bring fewer drug possession cases and shorter prison sentences as part of criminal justice reform.
The Georgia challenge was filed by Sherry Boston, the district attorney in the Atlanta suburb of DeKalb County; Jared Williams of Augusta and neighboring Burke County; and Jonathan Adams of Butts, Lamar and Monroe counties south of Atlanta. Adams is a Republican; the others are Democrats.
Although Whitaker’s lawsuit is still pending, she raised serious doubts about arguments that the law violates prosecutorial discretion, a fundamental part of the U.S. legal system in which prosecutors decide what charges to bring and how severe the punishment to seek.
Prosecutors say the law violates Georgia’s constitutional separation of powers by requiring district attorneys to consider each individual case on its individual merits. District attorneys argue that they should be able to decline prosecution of entire classes of crimes as a matter of policy. But Whitaker argued that requiring each case be considered “does not materially impair the discretion of the prosecution.”
She was also skeptical of the claim that state legislatures are improperly interfering with the judiciary by regulating prosecutors.
“Because the Georgia Constitution expressly authorizes the General Assembly to impose statutory duties on district attorneys and to create the grounds and procedures for disciplining or removing district attorneys, there is no violation of the separation of powers in the state Constitution,” Whitaker wrote.
Whitaker also rejected the district attorneys’ contention that the law violates federal and state constitutional guarantees of free speech by limiting what public interest issues district attorneys can discuss when running for office. She said the law does not cover such political speech. She also said there is no evidence the commission is responsible for deterring prosecutors’ speech, as the district attorneys have alleged. The judge said there was no evidence the commission has initiated an investigation into a prosecutor, let alone disciplinary proceedings against a prosecutor.
Whitaker also said she would likely reject the claim that the commission improperly established its rules.
State Senate President John Kennedy, a Macon Republican who supports the bill, called on district attorneys to drop the case after their preliminary loss.
“Continuing this challenge is an injustice to the victims of crime in our communities, as well as to the Georgia taxpayers who have to bear the costs of this frivolous lawsuit,” Kennedy said in a statement. “This is the second time these plaintiffs have failed to block the law in court. Perhaps it’s time to realize that they have a losing argument.”
Sen. Randy Robertson, a Republican from Cataula who sponsored the bill, rejected claims that the law improperly limits the attorney general’s discretion.
“I understand the importance of public officials exercising discretion, but that does not mean they can simply ignore the law and allow crime to run rampant,” Robertson said in a statement.
Boston said that despite the setback, she and the other plaintiffs are not giving up and are determined to take the fight to the Georgia Supreme Court.
“We are committed to continuing our fight against this unconstitutional state overreach as our challenge moves through the courts,” Boston said in a statement.