The U.S. Senate on Monday confirmed Judge Julie Carnes to serve on the Atlanta-based U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the first judicial vacancy filled in Georgia since 2011.
Carnes, an Atlanta-based U.S. District Court judge since 1992, cleared the Senate 94-0. She was nominated by President Barack Obama as part of a package with Georgia’s Republican senators to fill a slew of longstanding vacancies, four of which are considered “judicial emergencies” by the U.S. Courts.
In a floor speech, Georgia Republican U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson spoke about Carnes’ long service on the bench — including the last five years as the senior judge.
“Her nomination is of someone with immense capacity, outstanding integrity and outstanding ability, just the type of person you and I would want to go to the bench,” Isakson said.
Five more judicial nominees have cleared the Senate Judicial Committee, while the controversial sixth — Georgia Court of Appeals Judge Michael Boggs — has been held up as Democrats and liberal groups have attacked his state House voting record as a conservative South Georgia Democrat in the early 2000s.
The other nominees are: Atlanta attorney Jill Pryor for the 11th Circuit; Atlanta attorney Leigh Martin May, Atlanta attorney Mark Cohen, and DeKalb County state court Judge Eleanor Ross for the U.S. District Court in Atlanta; and federal prosecutor Leslie Abrams for the U.S. District Court in Albany.
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