AJC asks judge to open a secret lawsuit from two Supreme Court candidates
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has asked a federal judge to open up secret court proceedings initiated by two Democratic-backed candidates for the state Supreme Court.
The AJC sought Friday to intervene in a lawsuit filed under seal by candidates Jen Jordan and Miracle Rankin, who are challenging incumbent Georgia Supreme Court justices Charlie Bethel and Sarah Hawkins Warren in this month’s nonpartisan judicial elections.
Jordan and Rankin, left-leaning plaintiff attorneys, are suing members of the Georgia Judicial Qualifications Commission, the state agency that investigates and prosecutes allegations of judicial misconduct.
The JQC sometimes sends letters to judicial candidates warning them that they may have violated the Georgia Judicial Code of Conduct. These letters are private. Jordan and Rankin’s lawsuit indicates they have received one of these letters. But they don’t want their case against the JQC aired publicly because it details the agency’s allegations against them while early voting has already begun.
“Defendants have started a process that could result in the issuing of a public statement critical of plaintiffs in the midst of a contentious election after voting has already begun,” Jordan and Rankin told the court.
The basis for keeping the filings sealed is a court decision from two years ago throwing out a similar lawsuit filed against members of the JQC by John Barrow as he tried to unseat state Supreme Court Justice Andrew Pinson.
Barrow’s case, alleging violations of his free speech rights, was tossed in large part because he filed it publicly and couldn’t show the JQC had harmed him.
In granting the request by Jordan and Rankin to file their case under seal, Chief U.S. District Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner said in a May 1 order that keeping the filings secret is appropriate for now.
The judge, who is the sister of former Georgia House Democratic leader Stacey Abrams, said she will unseal the filings when she deems it appropriate to do so.
In its court filing, the AJC said the case should be aired in public.
“The First Amendment demands this result, and the voters of Georgia deserve no less,” attorneys for the AJC said in a court filing. “Georgia voters have a right to know this information to determine for themselves whether the candidates or the JQC is in the wrong.”
Lawyers for Jordan and Rankin and the JQC declined to comment Friday.
Though judicial elections in Georgia are nonpartisan, the races for the state Supreme Court have become highly politicized campaigns in recent years.
Bethel and Warren were both first appointed by former Republican Gov. Nathan Deal and have since been endorsed by current GOP Gov. Brian Kemp.
Jordan and Rankin have the backing of the state Democratic Party, which has highlighted the justices’ previous votes to uphold Georgia’s anti-abortion law. They’ve also been endorsed by former President Barack Obama and former Vice President Kamala Harris.
Court records show the JQC has asked for extra time to file its opposition to the case being sealed.
A hearing in the case is scheduled in federal court in Albany on Monday.
The courtroom should be open to the public, the AJC argued. It said the ruling that ended Barrow’s case against the JQC two years ago is flawed and shouldn’t be a basis for Jordan and Rankin to sue in secret.
“Maintaining an open court system is an instrumental part of preserving the free flow of information in a democracy,” the AJC’s attorneys told the court. “The need for the free flow of information reaches its apex in advance of an election.”
The AJC said the fact that Jordan and Rankin are public officials seeking higher office “only reinforces the importance of openness” in the case.
About the Author
Journalist Rosie Manins is a senior courts and legal affairs reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
