Fulton judge tosses DAs’ case against Republican-backed oversight panel
A Fulton County judge threw out a lawsuit Wednesday filed by a bipartisan trio of district attorneys against Georgia’s Republican-backed oversight panel formed to police rogue prosecutors.
Sherry Boston, Jared Williams and Jonathan Adams claimed in their 2024 complaint against the state that the Georgia Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission unconstitutionally interfered with their duties as district attorneys, among other things.
Adams, a Republican who served as the district attorney in Butts, Lamar and Monroe counties, dropped out of the case recently after he resigned to seek a judgeship. Boston and Williams, Democrats serving in DeKalb County and Augusta, respectively, kept the case going.
But it was ended Wednesday by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Paige Reese Whitaker who said Boston and Williams failed to show that they’ve been harmed.
“No Commission action against these Plaintiffs is pending, and the discipline they fear — unreasonably in the Court’s analysis — remains entirely hypothetical," she wrote.
Attorney General Chris Carr commended Whitaker’s “strong decision” and said his team is proud to have defended the commission’s efforts.
“When an elected prosecutor fails to do their job, crime goes up and victims are denied justice,” Carr said Wednesday. “With this win, we have made clear that DAs who choose to ignore the law will not be immune from accountability.”
Representatives for Boston and Williams did not comment Wednesday.
The eight-member commission, tasked with investigating and disciplining state district attorneys and solicitors general, was created in 2023 to punish what Gov. Brian Kemp called “rogue” and “far-left” prosecutors who “refuse to uphold the law.”
Boston and Williams alleged in part that the commission unfairly exposes them to potential punishment for commonsense decisions such as declining to prosecute minor drug offenses and abortions. They claimed the commission threatens the independence of the judiciary, infringes on free speech rights and forces prosecutors to hide their stances from voters.
Adams had alleged that fear of discipline by the commission forced him to rescind his policy on adultery, which is a misdemeanor in Georgia, and refrain from pursuing a potential policy related to traffic-enforcement cameras.
In her order, Whitaker noted that since the commission’s rules became operational in April 2024, it has not held any hearings on any investigations. She said Boston and Williams have not been investigated or disciplined by the commission, which to date has only acted against one solicitor general who voluntarily resigned.
Boston previously said the state law that created the commission is unconstitutional and the best way to resolve the issue is through the courts.
When signing the commission’s governing legislation into law in May 2023, Kemp said some district attorneys are “either unwilling or unable to do their jobs by letting out-of-touch policies guide them instead of what the law is.” He said the state “will not forfeit public safety for prosecutors who let criminals off the hook.”
Democrats raised concerns that the commission would be used to sanction Fulton DA Fani Willis for her felony case against President Donald Trump. Willis, who called the commission-enabling legislation “racist,” was the subject of an early complaint to the commission lodged by Republican state senators, who said she “improperly cherry-picked cases” to further her own agenda.