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The Jolt: That time when a Republican governor packed Georgia's highest courts *old article*
This is a couple years old but I read it at the time and I just thought about it as the midterms approach because I'm in Florida and a majority of the state supreme court justices are facing retention elections. Justices tend not to lose their retention elections because most people don't know much about their state supreme courts, and don't know what kind of jurisprudence they are voting for.
ACJ
https://archive.ph/Ogfv8
As Democrats weigh whether to increase the size of the U.S. Supreme Court should they win the White House and control of the Senate, state Republicans might want to think twice about criticizing the effort.
“You know, the Republicans in Georgia packed the Georgia Supreme Court and Court of Appeals during the Deal administration,” said state Sen. Elena Parent, D-Decatur.
She’s right. And Gov. Nathan Deal did so without much of a fight. The Legislature overwhelmingly approved his plan to expand the Georgia Supreme Court from seven justices to nine in 2016, and a year earlier he pushed an expansion of the appeals court from 12 to 15.
By the time he left office, Deal had the rare distinction of having appointed a majority of judges on the state’s two highest courts. He tapped five of the Supreme Court’s nine justices and nine of the Court of Appeals' 15 judges.
The former governor’s mark on the court is partly a matter of longevity and partly shrewd political maneuvering. Two-term governors often get an opportunity for multiple appointments, but they seldom get the chance to expand the court’s size. And he used it to stock the court system with young conservatives who are likely to be serving for decades to come.
“You know, the Republicans in Georgia packed the Georgia Supreme Court and Court of Appeals during the Deal administration,” said state Sen. Elena Parent, D-Decatur.
She’s right. And Gov. Nathan Deal did so without much of a fight. The Legislature overwhelmingly approved his plan to expand the Georgia Supreme Court from seven justices to nine in 2016, and a year earlier he pushed an expansion of the appeals court from 12 to 15.
By the time he left office, Deal had the rare distinction of having appointed a majority of judges on the state’s two highest courts. He tapped five of the Supreme Court’s nine justices and nine of the Court of Appeals' 15 judges.
The former governor’s mark on the court is partly a matter of longevity and partly shrewd political maneuvering. Two-term governors often get an opportunity for multiple appointments, but they seldom get the chance to expand the court’s size. And he used it to stock the court system with young conservatives who are likely to be serving for decades to come.
