State high court rules Kemp can pick Blackwell successor

The Georgia Supreme Court on Thursday ruled against former U.S. Rep. John Barrow and former state Rep. Beth Beskin in their bid to force an election for the seat of Justice Keith Blackwell, who is stepping down from the court in November.

This means Gov. Brian Kemp gets to appoint Blackwell’s successor, who would then stand for election in 2022.

In a 6-2 ruling, the Supreme Court said Fulton County Superior Court Judge Emily Richardson arrived at the correct conclusion in mid-March dismissing Barrow’s and Beskin’s lawsuits, but did so using mistaken reasoning.

Justice David Nahmias, writing for the majority, said even though Blackwell’s seat is not vacant at the present time, his resignation became irrevocable when it was accepted by Kemp on Feb. 26. Blackwell’s seat will become vacant when he leaves office on Nov. 18, and “when a vacancy arises in a justice’s office, it is filled not by election but rather by gubernatorial appointment,” Nahmias wrote.

The hotly contested and highly unusual case led six of the state Supreme Court’s justices to remove themselves and be replaced by five Superior Court judges. Nahmias’ majority decision was joined by Chief Justice Harold Melton, Justice Sarah Warren and Superior Court Judges Richard Cowart,

Sarah Wall and Timothy Walmsley. Superior Court Judge Brenda Trammell, joined by Judge Scott Ballard, dissented.

Beskin, who is now running to unseat Justice Charles Bethel, said she was not disappointed with the court’s ruling. For example, she said, the majority agreed with her position that Blackwell’s seat is not currently vacant, contrary to what Richardson had determined.

Barrow lashed out at the decision, calling it tainted because Nahmias, Melton and Warren refused to step aside from a case involving their colleague Blackwell.

“It’s clear that these justices had an interest in deciding this case, and it’s not hard to see where their interests lay,” he said.