Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp on Wednesday signed legislation empowering the state Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission to remove prosecutors or impose other sanctions.
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The Georgia Supreme Court refused to accept the proposed rules for the state’s new Prosecuting Attorneys Qualification Commission (PAQC) in a ruling made Wednesday, effectively pausing the Republican effort to provide oversight for the state’s attorneys.
Georgia lawmakers passed SB 92 last year, creating the PAQC to provide oversight of elected district attorneys across the state. While independent, the legislation requires the Georgia Supreme Court to accept the PAQC’s draft standards and rules before the committee can enforce its decisions.
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The Georgia Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that the state’s six-week abortion ban should remain in place, refuting a lower court’s argument that the law was unconstitutional, according to court documents.
A group of pro-abortion organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia, filed a lawsuit in July 2022 and a trial court ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, saying that the 2019 law was signed prior to the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Center and was, ultimately, unconstitutional, according to NPR. The state’s Supreme Court, however, dismissed the lower court’s decision and said that the previous ruling “rests on a faulty premise” that the Dobbs decision changed the meaning of the Constitution, itself, according to WABE, a local media outlet.
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The Georgia Supreme Court on Monday unanimously rejected a bid from former President Donald Trump’s legal team to block an investigation from Fulton Country District Attorney Fani Willis into his efforts to challenge the 2020 presidential election results in the Peach State.
Trump’s team filed the request on Friday, after previously filing a similar bid in the Fulton County Superior Court, The Hill reported. That the lower court has yet to decide the matter formed the basis of the Supreme Court’s refusal.
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The Supreme Court of Georgia affirmed a Fulton County judge’s decision to dismiss a lawsuit by five University System of Georgia professors filed challenging a change to campus gun-free zones.
The professors challenged a 2017 amendment to state law removing public colleges and universities from the designated “school safety zones” prohibiting weapons. Before the 2017 amendment, carrying a weapon on campus was a misdemeanor.
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Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed a measure to establish a commission with the power to investigate and potentially remove district attorneys from office.
But critics argue the measure attacks progressive prosecutors, saying it’s a “national right-wing coordinated effort to undo the will of voters,” particularly minority voters.
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Pro-life activists expect Georgia Republicans to file two bills granting equal rights to the unborn; the bills would impact exceptions currently in place under Georgia’s heartbeat law that bans abortions after six weeks.
Georgia Right to Life (GRL) Executive Director Zemmie Fleck said the heartbeat bill grants some rights, mostly to the mother, including counting the unborn in the census. It includes exceptions for certain circumstances surrounding conception or health.
“This would actually say all of those children who are classified in the rape and incest category or the fetal anomaly category, or the life of the mother category, those children also — they have equal protection of their life, and they have the equal recognition that they are persons to be treated just like a born person,” she said.
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The Georgia Supreme Court on Tuesday sent a 2020 election lawsuit regarding Fulton County back to a lower court for reconsideration, adding another layer to the suit’s twisting saga through the court system.
The lawsuit, Caroline Jeffords, et al. v. Fulton County, et al., alleges that the plaintiffs’ votes in the 2020 election were “diluted by the inclusion of allegedly unlawful ballots in Fulton County.” Jeffords also alleged that Fulton County violated the Georgia Open Records Act.
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The Georgia Supreme Court has allowed the state’s six-week abortion ban to remain in effect, issuing a Wednesday order staying a lower court order blocking the ban while the state appeals the injunction against the ban.
The law was originally passed in 2019, effective beginning January 2020. But pro-choice organizations sued, and courts blocked the law from taking effect pending a U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
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Georgia Republicans are pushing their supporters to embrace early voting in the December 6 runoff election between Senator Raphael Warnock (D-Georgia) and Herschel Walker. Early voting began Wednesday in DeKalb County, and some other counties will have early voting on Saturday after a Georgia Supreme Court decision, but all counties must offer early voting beginning November 28.
“If you are a conservative you should VOTE EARLY IN PERSON in Georgia. Don’t trust the Election Day madness. Learn from Maricopa and vote early and securely,” Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk tweeted Tuesday.
“Absolutely right,” Georgia Republican Party Chair David Shafer responded.
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Georgia is set to swear in its news Supreme Court Justice next week.
“The Honorable Andrew A. Pinson will be sworn in as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia on Wednesday, July 20, at 1 p.m.,” said a release from the state Supreme Court’s website. “Gov. Brian Kemp will administer the oath of office in the House Chamber of the State Capitol Building.”
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Georgia Governor Brian Kemp on Tuesday appointed Judge Verda Colvin to fill a vacancy and serve on the state’s Supreme Court, after the resignation of Justice Harold D. Melton.
“It is an honor to appoint such an experienced and accomplished justice to our state’s Supreme Court. With Justice Colvin on the bench, Georgia’s highest court is gaining an immensely talented and principled judge who will help guide it in the years to come,” Kemp said of his decision to select Colvin.
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The Georgia House of Representatives held a hearing on Thursday to discuss claims of election fraud and voting irregularities. Career IT professional and nonpartisan voting integrity organization VOTERGA Co-Founder Garland Favorito testified before the House – he’d previously been called to testify before the Georgia Senate on his findings.
Favorito explained that he’d been challenging Georgia’s electronic voting systems since 2002 with the implementation of Diebold DRE system. For 17 years, Favorito alleged that the system was “not verifiable, auditable, and [not] recount capable,” and was ignored by the Secretary of State’s office and Georgia Supreme Court. Then, in 2019, Favorito explained that the U.S. District Court agreed that the Diebold systems were unconstitutional. That decision led to the Secretary of State’s office to purchase the Democracy Suite 5.5 BMD system from Dominion Voting Systems.
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