Judge who jailed woman for ‘daddy issues’ steps down
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Shermela Williams has resigned while facing possible removal from the bench over a series of misconduct charges and an associated lawsuit.
Williams submitted her resignation letter to Gov. Brian Kemp on Friday, saying her decision to step down immediately was “bittersweet.”
“Serving in this role has been one of the greatest honors of my professional life,” she wrote in the letter, filed publicly in the Georgia Supreme Court. “Both in and out of the courtroom; I have proudly served my community with diligence, respect, honor, balance, and impartiality.”
Williams has been waiting for the state Supreme Court to decide whether and how she should be punished since the state’s judicial watchdog recommended in October that she be ousted.
In a November filing, Williams suggested the court suspend her if inclined to impose a sanction.
Her lawyers said Monday her resignation means there is no need for the court to decide the case. They issued a statement on Williams’ behalf, outlining the positive impact she’s had as a “pillar in the community” and noting her “serious concerns” about the handling of the misconduct case.
The Georgia Judicial Qualifications Commission concluded Williams’ “illegal” jailing of a young woman during a 2023 divorce hearing was the worst of several missteps that had eroded the public’s confidence in her ability to serve.
JQC Director Courtney Veal said Monday that Williams’ resignation is “an obvious attempt to resign her way out of accountability for her misconduct,” though it is “certainly best for Georgia’s citizens and judiciary.”
Williams acknowledged during the JQC’s case against her that jailing a then-21-year-old called to testify in her parents’ divorce hearing was wrong.
The woman, Molly Dennis, sued Williams in October, alleging her constitutional rights were violated when she was placed in a courthouse cell for up to 45 minutes on Williams’ orders.
Dennis, an Alabama resident, said the judge had lectured her about “daddy issues” and accused her of committing felony crimes after she testified she had entered her father’s apartment. She said she felt targeted and humiliated by the judge, who had filed her nails and taken a phone call during the divorce hearing.
Williams said during a JQC hearing in May 2025 that she had Dennis detained for “shock value” and to teach her a lesson.
“I was wrong,” Williams testified during the misconduct hearing. “Hindsight being 20/20 I would not have handled it like that.”
Williams recently sought to end the lawsuit, arguing she has “absolute judicial immunity” against Dennis’ claims.
“It is settled that judicial immunity will bar claims that are predicated on a judicial act however controversial the act may be, and however tragic or injurious the consequences of the act may be,” Williams said in her Feb. 17 dismissal request.
Williams, a former prosecutor elected to the bench in 2020, was also accused in the JQC’s misconduct case of improperly favoring a Delta Sigma Theta sorority sister in a child custody case. She also made other litigants in family cases wait up to 2½ years for rulings, the JQC said.
In its report to the state Supreme Court, the JQC said Williams’ “stunning lack of candor” during the misconduct case was disappointing.
Williams was elected to a second term in 2025. She said in her resignation letter that she greatly appreciated the support and trust placed in her by Fulton residents.
“I am immensely grateful to have had this opportunity to contribute to the administration of justice, and to serve the community in which I was born and raised,” she said.
About the Author
Journalist Rosie Manins is a legal affairs reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
