Augusta district attorney joins lawsuit to stop commission overseeing prosecutors
Augusta District Attorney Jared T. Williams is joining three other Georgia district attorneys in a lawsuit to block the activities of a commission empowered to review and possibly remove local prosecutors.
The lawsuit, filed this week in Fulton County Superior Court, challenges the constitutionality of Senate Bill 92.
Led by Stone Mountain District Attorney Sherry Boston, the group of plaintiffs includes Williams, Towaliga District Attorney Jonathan Adams and Cobb District Attorney Flynn Broady.
The bill, enacted by Kemp during the 2023 legislative session, creates the Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission, which is authorized to investigate and remove local prosecutors, and whose members are appointed by Kemp and other officials.
The lawsuit argues that the bill undermines the ability of local communities to elect their own district attorneys.
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"Prosecutors have constitutionally protected discretion to carry out the priorities of their constituents. The law also restricts the First Amendment free-speech rights of DAs as candidates and officials, and disempowers the communities that elect their prosecutors by limiting their ability to understand their philosophy," the prosecutors wrote in a press release.
Williams said the government should encourage district attorneys to be more transparent about their work, not less open and honest.
“SB 92 hurts prosecutors who want to have a dialogue with their constituents," Williams noted. "I am suing to protect the voices of voters in our circuit. I am suing to ensure prosecutors can do their jobs without fear of reprisal from those with political agendas. I am suing because I swore to uphold the constitution, and this law violates it."
The prosecutors are asking the court to invalidate SB 92 or halt the PAQC from handling any complaints or disciplining any local prosecutors, according to the release.
Shortly after filing the lawsuit, the prosecutors will also seek to bar the new commission from investigating or taking disciplinary action against district attorneys and solicitors general for prosecutorial decisions, including non-prosecution policies, or for statements related to those decisions, according to the release.
The prosecutors are represented by Public Rights Project, a national nonprofit, along with Washington, Dreyer, and Associates and Bruce P. Brown Law.
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr said in a news release that the new commission targets district attorney who "have embraced the progressive movement across the nation of refusing to enforce the law. ... All Georgians deserve to be safe and all crime victims deserve justice. Like everyone else, district attorneys who choose to violate their oaths of office are not immune from accountability and we will vigorously defend this law in court."
The lawsuit alleges SB 92 threatens the ability of local prosecutors to create policies to promote public safety in their communities.
The suit also alleges the grounds for removal of a local prosecutor in SB 92 are "broad and vague," which gives the PAQC unchecked power to discipline prosecutors they disagree with. If a DA is removed under SB 92, they cannot serve again for 10 years.
This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Augusta DA files lawsuit against governor's oversight commission
