Georgia’s beauty contest for new judges cheats voters

The terms of two justices of the Georgia Supreme Court and three members of the Georgia Court of Appeals are to be filled on the November ballot. Four are incumbents. They ride free.

One is an open seat now held by retiring Court of Appeals Judge John H. Ruffin Jr., a 1994 appointee of Gov. Zell Miller. For the one open seat, seven candidates have qualified.

Five of the seven gathered in Atlanta last week to present their qualifications to members of the Federalist Society, the American Bar Association alternative that should assess qualifications of nominees to the federal bench when conservatives occupy the White House. But that observation is unrelated to their Federalist Society invitation. The five were asked nothing that would have prompted them to hint at their leanings on issues of public concern. The Federalist Society, in any event, does not endorse candidates.

One area of complete agreement among the five is that not one would have challenged an incumbent —- hence the free ride for incumbents.

This is the dilemma voters have in selecting judges: Incumbents are rarely challenged and when there’s an open seat, it’s virtually impossible to know who’s best qualified. Judicial elections are a crap shoot, and that’s intentional.

The public’s ignorance is cultivated by lawyers and judges and by the establishment bar, almost all of them fearful that the unwashed masses will come to expect judicial elections to be something other than beauty contests.

Truth is, of the dozen members of the Georgia Court of Appeals, four got there without being first anointed by the politicians and other insiders. They are the choice of the People of Georgia.

Admittedly, all four have surnames that start with an “A” or a “B” —- Chief Judge Anne Elizabeth Barnes, first elected in 1998; Presiding Judge G. Alan Blackburn, first chosen by voters in 1992; Judge Gary B. Andrews, first elected in 1990; and Debra Bernes, elected in 2004.

But even with the alphabet boost, the fact is that all are good, solid judges, meaning that when given a chance, voters are perfectly capable of fulfilling the constitution’s requirement that judges be elected.

Over the decades, that right has been stolen from them. The custom —- though it’s not what the framers of the state constitution envisioned —- is that incumbents resign just before their terms expire, enabling the governor to choose their successor.

New language was added in the 1983 constitution that insulates those appointees from competition.

That sentence reads: “An appointee to an elective office shall serve until a successor is duly selected and qualified and until Jan. 1 of the year following the next general election which is more than six months after such person’s appointment.”

The impact of that is to protect the governor’s appointee for more than two years, by which time he or she is firmly ensconced —- and can count on running unopposed.

The role of voters is that of voters in the old Soviet Union, to affirm our rulers’ decisions. It’s a sham system.

Real elections occur only when a departing judge, for whatever reason, elects to play it straight —- because of principle, because the sitting governor is of the opposing party or because of contrariness.

That open seat on the Court of Appeals has produced a top-notch field. It includes in reverse alphabetical order:

> Mike Sheffield of Lawrenceville, who lost a cliff-hanger in the election ultimately won by Bernes four years ago. (www.electsheffield.com)

> State Sen. Michael S. Meyer von Bremen of Albany, chairman of the Senate’s special judiciary committee. (www.mvbcourtofappeals.com)

> Former state Sen. Perry J. McGuire of Douglasville, who lost a race for attorney general to incumbent Thurbert Baker two years ago. (www.perrymcguire.com)

> Christopher J. McFadden, a Decatur appellate lawyer. (www.mcfaddenforappealscourt.com)

> Bruce M. Edenfield, of Atlanta, a trial lawyer whose father, Newell Edenfield of Atlanta, served on the federal bench.(www.bruceedenfield.com)

> Sara Doyle of Atlanta, whose practice with Holland & Knight focuses on education issues. (www.votesaradoyle.com)

> Tamela L. Adkins of Lawrenceville, a sole practitioner specializing in domestic law. (www.tamelaadkins.com)

A real judicial election is a rare treat.

Georgia is a beauty contest state. One where the candidates actually tell us something other than name, rank and serial number is even rarer. But ask anyway.

—- Jim Wooten is associate editorial page editor. His column appears Tuesday, Friday and Sunday.

jwooten@ajc.com