The Supreme Court of Georgia just ruled on the rules for a new commission some Georgia Republicans have been trying to stand up that would allow them to discipline and remove state prosecutors such as District Attorney Fani Willis, the DA behind the arrest, indictment, and mugshot of former President Donald Trump.
Unfortunately for Trump and the GOP members trying to help him out, as they had hope to use the commission to remove DA Willis, the state Supreme Court declined to approve the rules for the commission, a decision that will effectively put it on hold. Explaining the reasoning for their refusal to approve the rules in an unsigned order, the justices said they have “grave doubts” about their abilities to regulate the duties of DAs beyond the practice of law.
In the unsigned order, the justices wrote, “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.” They continued, “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.”
Houston Gaines, a Republican state representative from Athens who played a key role in the bill’s passage through the House earlier this year, expressed his opinion that lawmakers could forgo the court’s approval of the rules as early as January, allowing the commission to begin operations.
However, all is not lost. According to Houston Gaines, a Republican member of the state legislature who has been involved in crafting and pushing the bill, lawmakers can still move forward with the bill to hold prosecutors like Willis accountable. “This commission has been years in the making, and now it has its appointees, rules, and regulations ready to go. As soon as the legislature can address this final issue with the court, rogue prosecutors will be held accountable,” he said.
The law and commission would not just be used to go after James, but also would be a way for Georgia’s politicians to go after prosecutors and DAs who do not prosecute criminals, as it provides that they cannot decline to prosecute whole categories of crimes and must instead choose whether or not to prosecute on a case by case basis. The goal is to force them away from a soft on crime stance and toward more vigorous prosecution of crime.
The law gives a commission the power to discipline and remove both district attorneys and elected solicitors general, hence the hope it would be used against DA Willis. However, the commissioners cannot start doing so until the rules take effect, so the Georgia Supreme Court’s decision to not approve them is holding up that commission from starting its work. When it does start, however, it could conceivably be used against DA Willis.
Opponents of the bill largely argue that it creates an unnecessary bias in favor of DAs and elected solicitors general seeking prosecution, something they argue is harmful. Those in support of the bill argue that the DAs should be prosecuting crime to make life more bearable for law-abiding citizens.
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