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Harold Melton (Georgia)
Harold Melton was a judge of the Georgia Supreme Court. He assumed office on July 1, 2005. He left office on July 1, 2021.
Melton ran for re-election for judge of the Georgia Supreme Court. He won in the general election on May 22, 2018.
Melton was first appointed to the court in 2005 by Gov. Sonny Perdue (R) to fill the vacancy left by Norman Fletcher. At the time of his appointment, Melton was the first justice appointed to the Georgia Supreme Court by a Republican governor in 137 years.[1] Melton resigned from the Georgia Supreme Court on July 1, 2021. To learn more about the vacancy caused by Melton's retirement, click here.
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country. As part of this study, we assigned each justice a Confidence Score describing our confidence in the degree of partisanship exhibited by the justices' past partisan behavior, before they joined the court.[2] Melton received a confidence score of Mild Republican.[3] Click here to read more about this study.
Melton served as the chief justice of the Georgia Supreme Court from September 2018 until his retirement.[4][5] He became a partner at the law firm Troutman Pepper in July 2021.[6]
Biography
Melton received his bachelor's degree in international business and Spanish at Auburn University in 1988 and his J.D. from the University of Georgia School of Law in 1991.[7]
After graduating from law school, Melton worked as an assistant attorney general in Alabama. He became a senior assistant attorney general in 1997 and a section leader in the tax division. In 1998, he became an assistant to the governor for youth affairs.[8]
Melton worked in the Georgia Department of Law on consumer issues from 1998 to 2003. From 2003 to 2005, he was executive counsel to Gov. Sonny Perdue (R).[8]
Elections
2018
- See also: Georgia Supreme Court elections, 2018
General election
General election for Georgia Supreme Court
Incumbent Harold Melton won election in the general election for Georgia Supreme Court on May 22, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Harold Melton (Nonpartisan) | 100.0 | 894,149 |
| Total votes: 894,149 | |||
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2012
- See also: Georgia judicial elections, 2012
Melton ran unopposed for re-election in 2012.
2006
Melton ran unopposed for re-election in 2006.[9]
Appointments
2005
Gov. Sonny Perdue (R) appointed Melton to the Georgia Supreme Court.[1]
Analysis
Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship (2020)
Last updated: June 15, 2020
In 2020, Ballotpedia published Ballotpedia Courts: State Partisanship, a study examining the partisan affiliation of all state supreme court justices in the country as of June 15, 2020.
The study presented Confidence Scores that represented our confidence in each justice's degree of partisan affiliation. This was not a measure of where a justice fell on an ideological spectrum, but rather a measure of how much confidence we had that a justice was or had been affiliated with a political party. The scores were based on seven factors, including but not limited to party registration.[10]
The five resulting categories of Confidence Scores were:
- Strong Democrat
- Mild Democrat
- Indeterminate[11]
- Mild Republican
- Strong Republican
This justice's Confidence Score, as well as the factors contributing to that score, is presented below. The information below was current as of June 2020.
Harold
Melton
Georgia
- Partisan Confidence Score:
Mild Republican - Judicial Selection Method:
Elected - Key Factors:
- Held political office as a Republican
- Appointed by a Republican governor
Partisan Profile
Details:
Melton served on the Executive Council to Governor Sonny Perdue (R). Melton was appointed by Gov. Perdue in 2005. At the time of his appointment, Georgia was a Republican trifecta.
Other Indicators:
In a 2012 study of campaign contributions, Melton received a campaign finance score of 0.33, indicating a conservative ideological leaning.
Other Scores:
In a 2012 study of campaign contributions, Melton received a campaign finance score of 0.33, indicating a conservative ideological leaning.
Bonica and Woodruff campaign finance scores (2012)
In October 2012, political science professors Adam Bonica and Michael Woodruff of Stanford University attempted to determine the partisan ideology of state supreme court justices. They created a scoring system in which a score above 0 indicated a more conservative-leaning ideology, while scores below 0 were more liberal.
Melton received a campaign finance score of 0.33, indicating a conservative ideological leaning. This was more conservative than the average score of 0.09 that justices received in Georgia.
The study was based on data from campaign contributions by the judges themselves, the partisan leaning of those who contributed to the judges' campaigns, or, in the absence of elections, the ideology of the appointing body (governor or legislature). This study was not a definitive label of a justice, but an academic summary of various relevant factors.[12]
State supreme court judicial selection in Georgia
- See also: Judicial selection in Georgia
The nine justices on the Georgia Supreme Court are chosen by popular vote in nonpartisan elections. They serve six-year terms, after which they must run for re-election if they wish to retain their seats.[13]
Qualifications
To serve on this court, a judge must be:
Chief justice
The chief justice is selected by peer vote and serves in that capacity for four years.[13]
Vacancies
If a vacancy appears on the 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. As of March 2023, the judicial nominating commission consisted of 35 members, each appointed by the governor. For each court vacancy, the commission recommends candidates, but the governor is not bound to the commission's choices and may choose to appoint a judge not found on the list.[14] 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.[13][15][16] There is one current vacancy on the Georgia Supreme Court, out of the court's 9 judicial positions. The map below highlights how vacancies are filled in state supreme courts across the country.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Foundation for Fair Civil Justice, "Gov. Perdue Appoints Harold Melton to Chief Justice Vacancy," June 9, 2005
- ↑ We calculated confidence scores by collecting several data points such as party registration, donations, and previous political campaigns.
- ↑ The five possible confidence scores were: Strong Democrat, Mild Democrat, Indeterminate, Mild Republican, and Strong Republican.
- ↑ Daily Report, "Sarah Hawkins Warren Named to Georgia Supreme Court," August 22, 2018
- ↑ The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Nahmias to become Georgia’s next chief justice," March 11, 2021
- ↑ The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Georgia Supreme Court’s retiring chief justice to join big law firm," June 29, 2021
- ↑ Auburn University, "About Harold D. Melton," accessed July 29, 2021
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 The History Makers, "Honorable Harold D. Melton," accessed July 29, 2021
- ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "2006 Election Results," accessed July 29, 2021
- ↑ The seven factors were party registration, donations made to partisan candidates, donations made to political parties, donations received from political parties or bodies with clear political affiliation, participation in political campaigns, the partisanship of the body responsible for appointing the justice, and state trifecta status when the justice joined the court.
- ↑ An Indeterminate score indicates that there is either not enough information about the justice’s partisan affiliations or that our research found conflicting partisan affiliations.
- ↑ Stanford University, "State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns," October 31, 2012
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Georgia," archived October 2, 2014
- ↑ American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: Georgia; Judicial Nominating Commissions," archived October 2, 2014
- ↑ Governor Brian Kemp, "Executive Order," accessed March 29, 2023
- ↑ Governor Brian Kemp, "Gov. Kemp Names 35 to Judicial Nominating Commission," October 27, 2021
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
