Our New Judicial Qualifications Committee is Asleep at the Wheel

More than a year ago I urged Georgia voters to vote “no” on Georgia Amendment 3. Our formers JQC was holding judges accountable for unethical and illegal behavior. Unfortunately, the preamble to the amendment was misleading causing the public to think that a new Judicial Qualifications Committee would hold our judiciary more accountable. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The result is I have not heard of a single judge being disciplined since the amendment passed. Isn't it amazing that in fourteen months no one in our judiciary has done anything that warranted discipline? 

What we have no is a complete absence of accountability. Judges are human beings. As in any profession or walk of life, there is an equal number of people who commit crimes or fail to behave ethically in their jobs. Judges as certainly no different than other attorneys, doctors, nurses, realtors, accountants, or any other person. 

However, now we have a system designed to brush bad behavior under the rug and away from any public scrutiny. We have hurt the practice of law by pretending that judges are above reproach. They are not, and the public will be hurt when we allow judges to be ungoverned. 

We have gone from having more judicial accountability than most states to absolutely none. What a shame. 

It is also a shame to face Georgia DUI Penalties without first calling out office.