Kemp signs signs into law prosecutors oversight commission targeting district attorneys
As Chatham County Sheriff John Wilcher looks on, Gov. Brian Kemp signs S.B. 92, which establishes a Prosecuting Attorneys Oversight Commission, at the Chatham County Detention Center, on May 5, 2023.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp recently signed S.B. 92 in Savannah, making official a law that creates a Prosecuting Attorneys Oversight Commission for district attorneys and solicitors-general across Georgia.
Among other responsibilities, the eight-member commission, consisting of five investigators and three hearing panel members, will “have the power to discipline, remove, and cause involuntary retirement of appointed or elected district attorneys or solicitors-general.”
Opponents of the law fear it circumvents the will of local voters and prevents district attorneys from pursuing some restorative justice measures, such as diversion programs, in favor of harsher criminal charges. Supporters suggest the commission provides necessary oversight to discipline district attorneys and solicitors-general who do not prosecute certain crimes, such as the state’s six-week abortion ban.
Senate Bill 92 by Amy Condon on Scribd
At the press conference accompanying the signing, Kemp said, “People are finally fed up with local prosecutors that simply are not doing their job.”
The signing of S.B. 92 comes at a time when Chatham County District attorney Shalena Cook Jones faces increased scrutiny for pleading down, or reducing, murder convictions to lesser charges, such as manslaughter. Athens District attorney Deborah Gonzalez also seems a target for the legislation. Upon election, she noted she planned to not prosecute certain drug offenses and her office has endured a high turnover rate among prosecutors.
State Rep. Houston Gaines, R-Athens, was one legislator who supported the bill in part because of Gonzalez, who he said is not doing her job and is risking public safety.
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“I think most of us would agree that the need for some type of oversight is not a bad thing,” said Melissa D. Redmon, clinical assistant professor & Prosecutorial Justice program director at the University of Georgia School of Law. “… But I think it is hard to deny that the timing, and the composition of the commission seems to be targeted at a particular group of prosecutors.”
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In particular, Redmon, herself a former prosecutor, said the legislation gained urgency after the election of more progressive district attorneys. Many of the district attorneys elected were people of color.
In a phone call, Clayton County District attorney Tasha Mosley described S.B. 92 as needlessly redundant.
“The state bar is already in place,” said Mosley. “If we violate one of the rules of bar’s ethics, there’s an investigation that goes before the Supreme Court to make a determination what our punishment should be.”
DeKalb County District attorney Sherry Boston issued a statement via email: “Not only is Senate Bill 92 an assault on prosecutorial discretion and independence – it’s a direct attack on the nature of our democratic process. This legislation seeks to disenfranchise voters in local communities who do not elect so-called ‘tough-on-crime’ candidates.”
Georgia state politics reporter Abraham Kenmore contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signs SB 92 prosecutor oversight commission
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