Hunstein sworn in as new chief justice

Carol Hunstein was sworn in Wednesday as Georgia’s new Supreme Court chief justice.

Hunstein, a former DeKalb County judge, took the oath of office from former Gov. Zell Miller, who put her on the state high court in 1992. She succeeds Leah Ward Sears, who stepped down from the court on Tuesday.

Enlarge this image

Kent D. Johnson / kdjohnson@ajc.com

Carol Hunstein

Recent headlines:

• Georgia State gets grant to study school bullying 
• Delta flight to Atlanta diverted to Chattanooga 
• State Masonic group withdraws charges 

   • Metro and state news

During a brief address before a standing-room-only crowd in the Supreme Court’s courtroom, Hunstein, 64, pledged to lead the court in a spirit of nonpartisanship and impartiality to all litigants.

Hunstein, who survived polio and two bouts of cancer, harkened back to 1965 when she had no money and no college education.

“I never dreamed of this day,” she said. Maybe, she added, it will help “encourage all people to see the possibilities that we have.”

Miller also swore in George Carley as the court’s new presiding justice. Carley, 70, will take Hunstein’s place as chief if she is absent or has to recuse herself from a case if she has a conflict of interest.

Carley, a former Georgia legislator and former chief judge of the Georgia Court of Appeals, was appointed to the state Supreme Court by Miller in 1993.