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DEL.ICIO.USGitmo political news for your money here
Michael Wiggins, a Bush legal advisor, lets it be known that he wants to wear a Georgia judge's robe
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Want a war over the war on terror? Have we got a state Supreme Court race for you.
As the grapevine predicted, J. Michael Wiggins, the No. 2 legal advisor to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, last week filed the paperwork necessary to start raising funds.
Almost exactly a year ago, Wiggins made headlines during a U.S. Senate hearing, in which he was questioned about the status of 520 prisoners captured by the U.S. in the months after the 9/11 attacks.
“If there is no definition as to when the conflict ends, that means forever, forever, forever these folks get held at Guantanamo Bay,” said U.S. Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.).
Replied Wiggins: “It’s our position that, legally, they can be held in perpetuity.”
Four state Supreme Court justices are up for re-election in November. The Georgia Chamber of Commerce has conducted a search for opponents, part of the continuing battle with lawyers over tort reform.
The positions are formally non-partisan, but three of the justices date to the recent Democratic era.
Harold Melton, the one justice appointed by Gov. Sonny Perdue, is said to be getting a pass because of his sponsor. Wiggins is expected to run against either Carol Hunstein or Hugh Thompson.
Expect this judicial fight to be much bigger than the one that pit now-Chief Justice Leah Sears against Republican challenger Grant Brantley.
Here’s a snippet of one e-mail from a well-placed Georgia lawyer, sent to barristers across the state:
“For all lawyers who have close ties to any leaders in the [Georgia] Chamber and the business community, talking to them and getting them on board to stop this effort to politicize the courts is the key,” the message said. “Starve candidates who would politicize the courts of ‘oxygen’, and someone like this guy will be left with nothing but the hard-core right wing to support him.”
Comments
By Van
June 12, 2006 09:09 AM | Link to this
Another reason why Judges should be appointed even if only for a predetemined term.
Otherwise, we will get the “best” judges money can buy.
By glc
June 12, 2006 10:07 AM | Link to this
The big guys are in charge. However, I have not seen them this bold in judicial contests. If I were a strategist of the targetted jurist I would recommend running against the big organized interests. I believe the average citizen is tired of the arrogant heavy handness of this group.
By Louella
June 12, 2006 10:42 AM | Link to this
After the past few years, it’s pretty obvious that the Chamber of Commerce backs candidates who value corporations over individuals and families. It’s as simple as that - although they use so-called “morality issues” to obscure the fact. What the November elections will really decide is if we’re going to move forward under the old robber-baron motto: “What’s good for General Motors is good for America.”
By jj
June 13, 2006 12:40 AM | Link to this
The best judges money can buy? Yup, I agree. So far its been the best judges the ambulance chasers can buy!
By Conservativecore
June 13, 2006 07:12 AM | Link to this
Just curious but if you have a job isn’t it a good thing that corporations flourish and even prosper here in Georgia. The fact is that the Chamber has finally woken from its slumber to find that the legislature is not just in 40 days a year but that there is a special star chamber legislature that mark themselves special with black robes. People are not tired of the “big guys” they are tired of whiney fringe groups who bully our companies, elected officials and use the courts as sanctuary.
By Van
June 13, 2006 09:32 AM | Link to this
Louella,
The Robber Barons were railroad and steel, not GM.
The point you were trying to make is that it is bad when a large company does well. Why?
Large businesses create jobs and jobs mean a better life for the workers. More people working, the more tax money the government gets, from us, to pay for all the socialist handouts, I mean entitlements.
Without these safety nets, there would be more people having to go and get jobs from big companies.
Life is tough.
By Ugotta B. Kidding
June 13, 2006 01:58 PM | Link to this
Sad but true, I bet that less than 10% of the people of Georgia know the names or beliefs of the members of the Georgia Supreme Court. What’s even sadder is that probably not much more than that really pay attention to any of their elected officials or what is going on in our government. That’s a big reason that a lot of these do-nothing self-serving politicians keep on getting re-elected time after time…
By Supporter
June 21, 2006 03:25 PM | Link to this
I would love to see Wiggins steam roll Carol Hunstein in this election. Her voting record is one of the shoddiest on the court and I really wish the AJ-C would run a comparison on what Wiggins could bring to Georgia, versus what Carol Hunstein has done to hurt Georgia. Could you do that, AJ-C? I would love to see it… non-partisan, my backside.