Judge: Economy straining justice system

Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears said Wednesday that the bad economy is straining the state’s court system.

“Because of the effects of the nation’s bad economy, people will need access to justice now more than ever,” Sears told a joint session of the Legislature in her annual state of the judiciary address.

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Mortgage foreclosures in Georgia have reached an all-time high and debt collection has increased dramatically, she said. “We may also begin to see an increase in other types of problems that typically escalate during tough economic times, such as crime, child abuse, domestic violence and substance abuse.”

Georgia’s court systems are cutting back their budgets, as are other state agencies, and will learn to do more with less, she said.

But Sears, 53, expressed concern about the consequences of cost-cutting efforts in other states. She cited Utah, which is leaving judgeships vacant following retirements, and New Hampshire, which has cut back on the number of jury trials it holds.

“These are drastic steps,” she said. “The will deny justice to many. In Georgia, we cannot afford to go down this path.”

Sears, who is retiring from the state high court at the end of June, has been a trailblazer. She was the first African-American woman in Georgia to be a Superior Court judge, the first woman on the state Supreme Court and the first African-American woman to preside as chief justice over a state Supreme Court.

She is being considered for a job in academia after she steps down from the court this summer. She is a finalist to become dean of the University of Maryland law school. After her speech, Sears declined comment on what she plans to do next.

By stepping down before her term expires, Sears is giving Gov. Sonny Perdue, who has been a political opponent of hers in the past, the chance to name her replacement.

“My prayer is that whoever the governor appoints to replace me would build on the progress the Supreme Court of Georgia has already made,” she told lawmakers. “My prayer is that the next justice would be a fair, honest, upright person of the highest integrity.”