Georgia Supreme Court

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Georgia Supreme Court
Court information
Justices:	7
Founded:	1845
Judicial selection
Method:	Non-partisan election of judges
Term:	6 years
Active justices
Carol Hunstein  •  Robert Benham  •  Hugh Thompson  •  Harris Hines  •  Harold Melton  •  David Nahmias  •  Keith Blackwell  •
Former justices

Founded in 1845, the Georgia Supreme Court is the state's court of last resort.

Justices

The current justices of the court are:

Judge	Term	Appointed by	Party
Justice Carol Hunstein	1992-2018	Zell Miller
Justice Robert Benham	1989-2014	Joe Frank Harris
Chief Justice Hugh Thompson	1994-2018	Zell Miller
Presiding Justice Harris Hines	1995-2014	Zell Miller
Justice Harold Melton	2005-2018	Sonny Perdue
Justice David Nahmias	2009-2016	Sonny Perdue
Justice Keith Blackwell	2012-2014	Nathan Deal	Republican

Jurisdiction

This 1983 Georgia Constituion gives the Georgia Supreme Court exclusive appellate jurisdiction over constitutional cases and election contest cases. The court also has general appellate jurisdiction over land title, will and equity cases, divorce and alimony cases, certified cases, death penalty cases, and writs of habeas corupus or certiorari. The court may also exercise jurisdiction over Georgia Court of Appeals cases found to be of great public importance.

Judicial selection

See also: Judicial selection in Georgia

Judges are selected using the non-partisan election of judges system. Judges serve six year terms. "When an interim vacancy occurs, the seat is filled using the commission-selection, political appointment method of judicial selection with the governor picking the interim justice from a slate provided by the Georgia Judicial Nominating Commission consisting of eighteen members who are appointed by the governor and who serve at his pleasure. The commission recommends at least five candidates to the governor for each judicial vacancy, unless fewer than five applicants are found to be qualified. There is no requirement that the governor appoint a candidate from the nominating commission's list."

The court's Chief Justice is elected from among and by the state's justices on a rotating basis.

Qualifications

Minimum qualifications for election to the court are:

• Be a resident of Georgia.
• Licensed to practice law in Georgia for at least seven years.

Removal of Justices

Justices may be removed in one of two ways:

• The Georgia Judicial Qualifications Commission may discipline, retire, or remove a judge. Removal and retirement decisions must be reviewed by the supreme court.
• Judges may be impeached by the Georgia House of Representatives and convicted by a two-thirds vote of the Georgia State Senate.

Caseloads

Fiscal Year	Appeals	Certiorari	Habeas Corpus	Discretionary applications	Attorney discipline	Total caseload
2011	485	486	394	236	114	1,993
2010	566	505	395	210	150	2,054
2009	554	564	393	260	126	1,979

Salaries

The Associate Justices of the court receive $167,210 annually, and the Chief Justice makes the same $167,210.

Notable decisions

• The University of Georgia has produced a report covering Fifteen Famous Supreme Court Cases from Georgia, which can be found here.

History of the court

In 1858, the Georgia legislature passed an act "decreeing that the decisions of the 13-year-old court had the force of law." The first session of the court was held in Talbotton, Georgia on January 26, 1846. Three judges were chosen by the General Assembly, and were paid $2,500 per year. The men were Joseph Henry Lumpkin of Athens, Eugenius A. Nisbet of Macon, and Hiram Warner of Greenville. There were eleven superior court circuits, and the Supreme Court traveled to those courts. The Constitution of Georgia was amended in 1896 to allow for an additional three justices and provided the direct election of justices by the people. In 1945, the Constitution was amended to include a seventh justice.

Notable firsts

• Former Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears became the first woman and the youngest person ever to serve on Georgia's Supreme Court in 1992 when she was first appointed by then-governor Zell Miller. Justice Sears was also the first African-American female Chief Justice on a state supreme court in the United States.
• Joseph Henry Lumpkin was the first Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court.

See also

• Courts in Georgia
• Judicial selection in Georgia
• Georgia judicial news
• Georgia blogs
• News: Georgia Supreme Court rules that right to a speedy trial was not violated, January 11, 2012

External links

• Georgia Supreme Court Official Site
• Georgia Supreme Court Blog
• The Predictable Unpredictability of the Georgia Supreme Court
• Ga. Supreme Court: No new trial for Troy Davis
• Georgia judicial qualifications commission
• Lackluster election for state supreme court justices, June 27, 2008.
• Fringe Tactics: Special Interest Groups Target Judicial Races
• Fayette County News, "Judicial elections can be scary," March 29, 2011

References

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2012

To organize the columns, click on the arrows in the column heading.

Candidate	Incumbency	Primary Vote	Election Vote
HunsteinCarol Hunstein   A	Yes		99%   A
MeltonHarold Melton   A	Yes		99%   A
ThompsonHugh Thompson   A	Yes		99%   A

2010

Georgia Supreme Court, Associate Justice 2010 General election results
Candidates		Votes	Percent
David Nahmias		176,627	67%
Tammy Lynn Adkins		86,938	33%

• Click here for 2010 General Election Results from the Georgia Secretary of State.

2008

Georgia Supreme Court, Associate Justice 2008 General election results
Candidates		Votes	Percent
Harris Hines		2,801,588	100%
Against retention		0	0%

Georgia Supreme Court, Associate Justice 2008 General election results
Candidates		Votes	Percent
Robert Benham		2,812,875	100%
Against retention		0	0%

• Click here for 2008 General Election Results from the Georgia Secretary of State.

2006

Georgia Supreme Court, Associate Justice 2006 General election results
Candidates		Votes	Percent
Harold Melton		1,605,179	100%
Against retention		0	0%

Georgia Supreme Court, Associate Justice 2006 General election results
Candidates		Votes	Percent
George Carley		1,609,144	100%
Against retention		0	0%

Georgia Supreme Court, Associate Justice 2006 General election results
Candidates		Votes	Percent
Robert Benham		1,596,458	100%
Against retention		0	0%

Georgia Supreme Court, Associate Justice 2006 General election results
Candidates		Votes	Percent
Carol Hunstein		1,170,973	63.1%
Mike Wiggins		683,483	36.9%

• Click here for 2006 General Election Results from the Georgia Secretary of State.