Georgia Governor Nathan Deal has won the latest legal challenge to his appointment of three new Court of Appeals judges.
The state’s high court voted 6-1 Tuesday to uphold the governor’s appointments which include former Mountain Judicial Circuit District Attorney Brian Rickman.
Rickman, Nels Peterson and Amanda Mercier were appointed to the appellate court after the Georgia State Legislature expanded it from a 12 to 15-member panel.
A citizens group challenged their appointments, arguing they were unconstitutional. According to the Daily Report, their attorney argued that the state constitution requires the judges be chosen by election, not appointment, because they filled newly created positions and not unexpired terms.
READ majority and dissenting opinions here
The Georgia Supreme Court disagreed, writing in its majority opinion that newly created positions qualify as vacancies. Justice Harold Melton added that the statute does not “wholly disenfranchise the citizens” because the judges will be required to run for election to keep their jobs.
In his dissenting opinion, Justice Robert Benham wrote, “historically in this state, a vacancy is an event” which causes an unexpired term, such as a death or a resignation. He concluded, “A newly created position cannot logically have an unexpired term that would need to be filled by appointment.”
Tuesday’s State Supreme Court decision marks the latest in a series of legal challenges since the governor announced his appellate court justice appointees in October 2015. Their appointments end December 31, 2018.
(FEATURED PHOTO/Catherine Lovett, Daily Report)
