Citing constitutional separation of power, Ga. Supreme Court declines action on DA oversight rules

ATLANTA — Weighing the question of whether to approve or reject a set of draft rules for the new Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission, the Georgia Supreme Court declined to act, citing the separation of powers.

According to the Court, state justices will not decide to approve or reject the rules drafted by state lawmakers due to a lack of judicial power to do so.

However, the reason for their stated lack of jurisdictional power is hinged, in their own writing, as based upon the method of the legislation’s wording.

The 2022 law, which has drawn combinations of support and opposition from residents and political figures, states that the rules presented can only take effect if the Georgia Supreme Court reviews and adopts them.

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According to the state’s highest court, the wording does not mandate that they do so, which the court said made it doubt whether they had the judicial authority to adopt the rules, within the framework of the Georgia Constitution.

“Because we are under no legal directive to take action, the most prudent course for us is to decline to take action without conclusively deciding any constitutional question,” the court said in its decision.

As a result of “grave doubts we have the constitutional power to take any action on the draft standards and rules,” the justices declined any additional actions, potentially leaving the law’s enactment in limbo.

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Based on the lack of action by the Supreme Court, Georgia’s commission remains active but as yet not in use. The commission itself officially started their work on Oct. 1, per the provisions of SB 92, the legislation which created it.

A group of four Georgia District Attorneys, including DeKalb County DA Sherry Boston, sued to block the law from taking effect, citing the commission’s potential to punish prosecutors the commission’s eight-member panel may politically disagree with, saying it would “silence a community of voices and override the will of the people.”

Among the four DAs suing over the law, Jonathan Adams, a Republican district attorney for Butts, Lamar, and Monroe counties said the commission could strip prosecutors of their discretion and independence.

In opposition to those viewpoints, the legislation’s sponsors, and Georgia’s Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, said the law is meant to provide oversight to what they called “rogue prosecutors” and that if prosecutors do their jobs, they won’t need to be worried about the commission or its responsibilities.

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