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Georgia Supreme Court justice vacancy: Harris Hines (August 2018)
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| Hines Vacancy Georgia Supreme Court |
| Vacancy date |
| Vacancy status |
| Nomination date |
| September 14, 2018 |
| Table of contents |
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Appointee candidates Selection process Media coverage About Chief Justice Hines |
| See also |
| Recent news External links Footnotes |
Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Harris Hines retired August 31, 2018.[1]
Under Georgia law, if a vacancy appears on the supreme court, the position is filled by assisted appointment. The governor chooses an appointee from a list of qualified candidates compiled by the judicial nominating commission. If appointed, an interim judge must run in the next general election held at least six months after the appointment, and, if confirmed by voters, he or she may finish the rest of the predecessor's term.[2]
Hines' replacement was Gov. Nathan Deal's fifth nominee to the nine-member supreme court.
The appointee
On September 14, 2018, Gov. Nathan Deal (R) appointed Judge Charlie Bethel to succeed Hines. At the time of his appointment, Bethel was a judge on the Georgia Court of Appeals. He previously served as a Republican member of the Georgia State Senate, representing District 54 from 2011 to 2016. He obtained a J.D. from the University of Georgia.[3][4]
The selection process
Justices of the Georgia Supreme Court are selected primarily through nonpartisan elections, though interim vacancies are filled by assisted appointment. They serve six-year terms, after which they must run for re-election if they wish to retain their seats.[2]
To serve on this court, a judge must be a resident of Georgia and admitted to practice law for at least seven years.[2]
Appointee candidates and nominations
The state judicial nominating commission provided Gov. Nathan Deal (R) with a list of nine nominees to fill the vacancies on the Georgia Supreme Court resulting from Chief Justice Harris Hines' retirement and Justice Britt Grant's elevation to the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit.[1] On September 12, 2018, the judicial nominating commission provided Deal with three additional candidates.[4]
On September 14, Deal appointed Judge Charlie Bethel to succeed Justice Hines.[3]
Below is a list of other prospective nominees. The list was accurate at the time of the nominating commission's recommendations.
- State House Majority Whip Christian Coomer: A Republican member of the Georgia House of Representatives, representing District 14. Coomer earned his J.D. from the University of Georgia.[4]
- Judge Sara Doyle: A judge of the Georgia Court of Appeals. She joined the court in 2008. Prior to her judicial appointment, she worked for the law firm of Holland & Knight LLP. She received a J.D. from the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University.[4]
- Judge Jean-Paul Boulee: A judge of the 4th Superior Court District of Georgia. He was appointed by Gov. Deal on May 12, 2015.[5] He earned a J.D. from the University of Georgia.
- Georgia State Senate Majority Leader Bill Cowsert (R-Athens): A Republican member of the Georgia State Senate, representing District 46. He was first elected to the chamber in 2006. He earned his J.D. from the University of Georgia.
- Judge Melanie Cross: A judge of the Tifton Judicial Circuit, Georgia. She joined the court in 2008. Prior to joining the court, she worked in private practice in Tifton. She received her J.D. from Mercer University.
- Judge Asha F. Jackson: A judge of the 4th Superior Court District of Georgia. She was first appointed to the court by Gov. Deal in February 2012 and won re-election in the general election on May 22, 2018. Jackson received her J.D. from Tulane Law School.
- Judge Tain Kell: A superior court judge of the Cobb Judicial Circuit, Georgia. He was appointed to this position by Gov. Sonny Perdue (R) on December 10, 2007. Prior to his appointment to the court, Kell was an attorney in private practice and in the Georgia Attorney General's office. He obtained his J.D. from the University of Georgia.
- Judge Shawn LaGrua: A judge of the Fulton Judicial Circuit, Georgia. She was appointed by Gov. Perdue on December 29, 2009, and formally joined the court in 2010. Prior to her appointment to the court, LaGrua served as inspector general in the Georgia Secretary of State's office, DeKalb County solicitor general, and in various district attorney positions in Fulton and DeKalb counties. She received her J.D. from Georgia State University.
- Rep. Andrew Welch (R-McDonough): A Republican member of the Georgia House of Representatives, representing District 110. He was first elected to the chamber in 2010. Welch's professional experience includes working as a partner at Smith, Welch & Britain LLP.
- Judge Paige Whitaker: A judge of the 5th Superior Court District of Georgia. She was appointed to the court by Gov. Deal on February 7, 2017. She was an assistant district attorney in Fulton County from 2010 until her judicial appointment. Whitaker earned her J.D. from Duke University.
Media coverage
This section provides an overview of media coverage of the vacancy from within Georgia and across the country.[6] Selected articles are presented as a jumping-off point for deeper exploration of media coverage and as an overview of narratives that emerged surrounding the vacancy.
Appointee candidates and nominations
| “ | J.P. Boulee has an advantage on the short list of Georgia Supreme Court candidates: He’s been chosen by Gov. Nathan Deal before. ... A stack of letters recommending Boulee praised him for starting and presiding over a veterans’ court that helps servicemen and servicewomen who’ve been arrested by offering counseling, treatment and mentoring.[7] | ” |
- Boulee received recommendations from Chief Justice Harris Hines; Chairman Frank Strickland and President Anne Lewis of the Atlanta lawyers chapter of the Federalist Society; Georgia-Pacific General Counsel Tye Darland, citing what he called Boulee's "constitutional originalism beliefs"; and DeKalb County CEO Michael Thurmond.[8]
- Judge Cross received recommendations from her former law partner of 20 years, Ralph Simpson of Simpson Law & Mediation.
- In her application, Cross said she had been overruled by the state supreme court and learned from the experience. She was referring to the case of Ryan Duke, accused of killing high school history teacher Tara Grinstead, in 2006. Cross placed a gag order on those involved in the trial. The order was overturned by the state supreme court.[9]
- Judge Kell received a recommendation from Robert Ingram of Moore Ingram Johnson & Steele in Marietta. "In a letter of recommendation, Ingram called Kell a 'seasoned trial lawyer' and a 'brilliant conservative jurist who works hard to get the right result.' Ingram also praised Kell for recognizing the 'limitations to his judicial authority' and said he 'understands the need for judges to interpret the law as written and not as he wishes it was written.'"
- Kell is on the board of advisers for the Federalist Society. He previously served on the sentencing committee for the Georgia Council on Criminal Justice Reform.[10]
About Chief Justice Hines
Chief Justice Hines was a justice of the Georgia Supreme Court. He was appointed to the court on July 26, 1995, by Democratic Governor Zell Miller. Justice Hines was elected to additional six-year terms in 1996, 2002, 2008, and 2014. He became the presiding justice of the court in 2013.[11][12]
Hines served as chief justice of the court from January 2017 to August 2018.[13]
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 WSBradio.com, "Deal gets short list of names for state supreme court appointments," August 2, 2018
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Georgia," archived October 2, 2014
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Governor Nathan Deal, Office of the Governor, "Deal announces judicial appointments," September 14, 2018
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Deal gets three new names for Supreme Court vacancy," September 12, 2018
- ↑ AJC.com, "2 DeKalb judges appointed by Gov. Deal," May 12, 2015
- ↑ In selecting articles for inclusion in this page, Ballotpedia has drawn from a variety of sources and viewpoints to identify articles that are representative of broader trends in media coverage.
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Daily Report, "Georgia Supreme Court Short List: J.P. Boulee," August 6, 2018
- ↑ Daily Report, "Georgia Supreme Court Short List: Melanie Barbee Cross," August 6, 2018
- ↑ Daily Report, "Georgia Supreme Court Short List: C. LaTain Kell," August 6, 2018
- ↑ WTVM.com, "Ga. Supreme Court Justice Hines to Run Again," April 23, 2012
- ↑ The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Thompson to be high court’s next chief justice," May 2, 2013
- ↑ The Marietta Daily Journal, "Marietta's Harris Hines elected chief justice of Georgia Supreme Court," September 7, 2016
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Federal courts:
Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Middle District of Georgia, Northern District of Georgia, Southern District of Georgia • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Middle District of Georgia, Northern District of Georgia, Southern District of Georgia
State courts:
Georgia Supreme Court • Georgia Court of Appeals • Georgia Superior Courts • Georgia State Courts • Georgia Business Court • Georgia Tax Court • Georgia Juvenile Courts • Georgia Probate Courts • Georgia Magistrate Courts • Georgia Municipal Courts
State resources:
Courts in Georgia • Georgia judicial elections • Judicial selection in Georgia
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