Georgia Supreme Court docket upholds decide nomination

The Georgia Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a lower court decision denying a challenge to Gov. Brian Kemp’s appointment of former Senator Jesse Stone to an Augusta judgeship.

Kemp appointed Stone as a Superior Court Justice in the Augusta Judicial Circuit last February, a year after former Justice Michael Annis resigned.

Attorney Maureen Floyd filed a petition in Burke County last March challenging the validity of the appointment, and Stone filed a motion to have it dismissed.

The trial court sided with Stone, rejecting Floyd’s argument that the appointment was illegal because it was not made “promptly” as required by the Georgia Constitution. The court also found that Floyd did not cite any authority to support her conclusion that impeachment was an adequate remedy.

Tuesday’s Supreme Court opinion noted that Floyd’s assertion of a speediness requirement was based on a provision in the constitution that pertains to the executive branch of state government rather than the judiciary.

The statement also noted that removing Stone would have simply created another vacancy and further lengthened the office’s vacancy.

“A remedy that aggravates harm resulting from a violation of the Constitution is not a remedy tailored to harm,” Chief Justice Michael Boggs wrote for the court.

The decision also noted that Floyd did not allege that Stone was in any way personally ineligible to hold the office.

Stone, who was mayor of Waynesboro in the 2000s, was elected to the Georgia State Senate in 2010. He did not seek re-election last year.

This story comes to GPB through a reporting partnership with the Capitol Beat News Service, a Georgia Press Educational Foundation project.