Fulton County judge allows DA oversight law in Ga. to take effect
ATLANTA — A new Georgia commission with broad powers to discipline local prosecutors accused of failing to fulfill their legal duties can soon begin accepting formal complaints after a judge rejected a challenge from district attorneys who sought to block the law creating the panel from taking effect.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Paige Reese Whitaker on Friday allowed the Prosecuting Attorneys Qualification Commission to begin accepting complaints on Sunday that could lead to sanctions or even the ouster of district attorneys and solicitors.
The decision opened the door for allies of Donald Trump to try to use the commission to punish Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis for indicting the former president, even though Gov. Brian Kemp and other Republicans have said there’s no evidence she should face sanctions.
In a six-page order, Whitaker shot down arguments from a bipartisan group of district attorneys who argued legislators overstepped their authority by establishing the new panel. Among other critiques, the judge found that the plaintiffs failed to prove that blocking the law would prevent an “immediate and irreparable injury.”
The law is among a spate of Republican-led efforts nationwide to exert more control over progressive prosecutors they view as “rogue” because they refuse to enforce low-level drug offenses, anti-abortion restrictions and other tough-on-crime crackdowns.
But the Georgia measure has attracted outsized attention because some Trump allies have vowed to use the new commission to seek sanctions against Willis after she secured an indictment against the former president and 18 co-defendants.
Kemp, the measure’s chief supporter, has spoken out against Trump allies who have talked of weaponizing the new commission against Willis, saying he’s seen no evidence that the Democratic prosecutor should merit the panel’s scrutiny.
COMPLAINTS URGED
Even so, several GOP state senators have urged their constituents to immediately file complaints against Willis through the panel, alleging that she is misusing public resources by pursuing the expansive election interference case.
Senate Majority Leader Steve Gooch said in a recent interview that the commission “will give people the opportunity to file a complaint to take the politics out of it more than trying to have an impeachment hearing” in the Legislature to seek Willis’ removal.
Other Republicans have gone a step further. State Sen. Clint Dixon told the AJC he would file a complaint against Willis himself, saying she pursued the indictments with the “unabashed goal to become some sort of leftist celebrity.”
Willis, who isn’t a plaintiff in the lawsuit, has criticized the panel as a brazen attempt at payback over a wave of left-leaning prosecutors recently elected to office. She has repeatedly said she’s followed the law in seeking charges against Trump and his allies.
‘WILL OF THE PEOPLE’
The legal challenge was brought by four district attorneys — three Democrats, one Republican — who view it as an unconstitutional power grab that threatens their ability to pick and choose which cases to pursue and how they discuss their strategy in public.
The law, known as Senate Bill 92, was approved along party lines by the General Assembly earlier this year after Kemp put it atop his policy agenda in his first legislative session after his re-election victory.
He vowed to punish “far-left prosecutors” he accused of undermining public safety, including a district attorney in his native Athens-Clarke County who won her election on a platform of prioritizing violent crimes over minor drug offenses.
The law allows the commission to sanction or remove district attorneys for a range of causes, such as “willful misconduct” or “persistent failure” to follow the law. A five-member panel would investigate the complaints and decide whether to bring formal charges, and a separate three-member panel will issue orders and opinions. Kemp and legislative leaders appointed the panels earlier this year.
COURT MUST APPROVE RULES
Still, it’s unlikely the commission will soon issue any sanctions. It still must put forth a complicated series of rules and regulations before weighing any complaints. And its members have indicated the panel can’t discipline a prosecutor until the Georgia Supreme Court approves its rules.
At a Sept. 22 hearing, Josh Rosenthal of the Public Rights Project told the judge that prosecutors are already changing their policies because “there is now a body second-guessing” their every decision.
One example: Jonathan Adams, the Republican district attorney in a stretch of middle Georgia counties, said he has withdrawn a policy that he will not prosecute adultery, which is still a misdemeanor under state law. Adams is among the plaintiffs in the challenge.
Josh Belinfante, an attorney for the state, argued the new commission is expressly authorized by the state Constitution and noted that judges, too, are subject to discipline from a similar commission.
“It seems to be a misnomer that this is some partisan witch hunt against prosecutors,” Belinfante said.
In her ruling, the judge found that many of the plaintiffs’ claims were based on “unspecified future harm” rather than the threat of imminent or actual injury. And she rejected arguments that the law violated the public’s trust.
“The public interest is served by allowing the defendants to perform their duties,” Whitaker wrote, adding that a law passed by the Legislature and signed by the governor “represents the will of the people.”