Follow America’s fastest-growing news aggregator, Spreely News, and stay informed. You can find all of our articles plus information from your favorite Conservative voices.
The Georgia Supreme Court declined to give their approval for rules that would have established a new commission with the power to discipline and remove state prosecutors, which has effectively put the commission on hold.
This comes as some Republicans are hoping for this commission to be able to take action against Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who recently successfully prosecuted former President Donald Trump and 18 others.
In an unsigned order, the justices voiced their doubts regarding their ability to regulate district attorneys’ duties outside of legal practice and in doing so, refused to make a ruling either way as the lawmakers had not instructed them directly.
“If district attorneys exercise judicial power, our regulation of the exercise of that power may well be within our inherent power as the head of the Judicial Branch,” justices wrote. “But if district attorneys exercise only executive power, our regulation of the exercise of that power would likely be beyond the scope of our judicial power.”
State Representative Houston Gaines of Athens, a Republican, played an important part in the bill’s passage through the House earlier this year and believes that legislators could bypass the court’s approval of the rules as soon as January, thus allowing for the commission to begin functioning.
“This commission has been years in the making, and now it has its appointees, rules, and regulations ready to go,” Gaines wrote in a text. “As soon as the legislature can address this final issue with the court, rogue prosecutors will be held accountable.”
In Georgia, Republicans have introduced legislation as part of a larger effort to regulate prosecutorial bias across the country. This has been met with criticism from Republicans who worry that progressive prosecutors are reducing sentences and allowing offenders to go unpunished.
The recent ruling by Judge Paige Reese Whitaker of Fulton County Superior Court implies that she will likely dismiss the lawsuit brought forth by four district attorneys in opposition to the law, as it is within the General Assembly’s right to impose duties on district attorneys as specified in the Georgia Constitution.
Despite this decision, critics of this law still maintain that it unfairly favors prosecution and undermines prosecutors’ discretion when determining criminal…
Source
