The Supreme Court of Georgia is the highest judicial authority of the US state of Georgia. The court was established in 1845 as a three-member panel. Since 1896, the justices (increased in number to six, then to seven in 1945, and finally to nine in 2017) have been elected by the people, and today those elections are non-partisan. Three of the state's nine sitting Justices were re-elected, all unopposed, in 2012.
The first Chief Justice of the Court was Joseph Henry Lumpkin, who was appointed in 1863. There have been 27 Chief Justices, and the current Chief Justice of the Court is Harris Hines.
History
Worcester v. Georgia - Want a specific SCOTUS case covered? Your idea gets picked when you donate on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/iammrbeat Mr. Beat's band: http://electricneedleroom.net/ Mr. Beat on Twitter:...
Georgia was established as a state in 1788. In the state's early days the justice system was set up so that matters of law were settled at a local level. This is how courts were settled up until 1799 when the Judiciary Act was put into place. The Judiciary Act stated that the judges of Georgia would meet annually and discuss any laws or rules that may have or would cause argument among the state. This allowed much of the laws and rules to be somewhat unanimous in all regions of the state. However, this was short to last as in 1801 an act called for anything that was discussed at these meetings to be returned to each county by its appointed judge and there it would be discussed further and decided upon county by county. This brought matters back to a local level. This meant that local court law was the only way to achieve justice and it caused a huge lack of uniformity among courts until the establishment of the Supreme Court was urged by governor George W. Crawford. The order for a Supreme Court of Georgia was amended to the constitution in 1835; however, it was not established until 1845 and was implemented in 1846, decades after the Revolutionary War. The original court consisted of three justices: Joseph Henry Lumpkin, the presiding justice, Hiram Warner, and Eugenius A. Nisbet. Their salaries were $2,500 a year.
Justices
Chief Justices
Court of Appeals
In the Court of Appeals, 12 judges are selected to serve 6 year terms. They are elected through nonpartisan elections. The Chief Judge serves for two years.
Jurisdiction
The Supreme Court of Georgia has the right and authority over every case that involves the review of select appellate jurisdiction. The cases in which it can perform rule over are the cases that bring in question of constitutionality of a law, constitutional arrangement, or mandate. Any election contest can be judged by the Supreme Court of Georgia and the cases it has appellate jurisdiction in are the following:
- Cases including wills;
- Cases of divorce and alimony;
- Equity cases;
- Habeas Corpus cases;
- Cases certified to it by the Court of Appeals;
- Title to land cases;
- Cases in which a death sentence could be charged or was charged; and
- Extraordinary remedies cases.
Each justice can create an opinion but it must be passed to the other justices, and after a discussion, depending on the majority, that opinion can be taken in or nulled. In the instance that any justice cannot serve in a case due to disqualification or any other reason, a judge can substitute has to be sent by the Court to take that place.
Courtroom Security
Courtroom security is provided by the Capitol Police Division of the Georgia State Patrol.
Office of Bar Admissions
The Supreme Court of Georgia is unusual among state high courts in that it does not admit new lawyers to the state bar. Instead, new lawyers are admitted to practice by the superior court of a county where they live or wish to practice. The new lawyers must separately seek admission to the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court.
Before admission, the board of admissions for the Supreme Court of Georgia conducts a background check and only considers the applicants that have the quality and morals to practice law.
Composition of State Bar of Georgia
The composition of the State Bar is made up of attorneys or lawyers that have practiced the law with experience, but they do not receive pay. They do; however, receive a reimbursement for their expenses due to traveling, if any. The State Bar is composed of five attorneys that are appointed by the Court and they are in charge of maintaining documentation of the Georgia State Bar examination that occurs twice a year ready, as well as evaluating it.
See also
- Fiat justitia ruat caelum
- State Bar of Georgia
- Georgia Court of Appeals
- Courts of Georgia
References
Citations
- History of the Supreme Court of Georgia (accessed February 17, 2014)
Huebner, Timothy. The Southern Judicial Tradition: State Judges and Sectional Distinctiveness, 1790-1890. Athens, Ga.: University of Georgia Press, 1999.
- Supreme Court of Georgia Rules
Georgia, S. O. (2016). Rules. Retrieved April 20, 2017, from http://www.gasupreme.us/rules/
External links
- Official website