Gov. Brian Kemp is set to sign a measure Friday to create a state commission with powers to investigate, sanction or remove local prosecutors.
The governor’s office said Kemp will sign the measure in Savannah, despite backlash from Democrats and prominent prosecutors who see it as a power grab that usurps the will of local voters.
The second-term governor is one of the chief advocates for the measure, which was approved mostly along party lines by state legislators who cited embarrassing examples of wayward prosecutors they say neglected their duties or violated the law.
It comes as a wave of district attorneys who represent left-leaning areas have said they won’t seek charges against low-level drug offenders or those who violate Georgia’s anti-abortion law.
Critics see it as a challenge to the principle of prosecutorial discretion, which empowers elected officials to determine what cases to prosecute.
Credit: AJC file
Credit: AJC file
One of the most ardent critics of the measure is Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who has framed the proposal as racist and retaliatory after voters elected a diverse bloc of prosecutors in 2020.
Some Democrats who have vowed to challenge the law in court see the bill as retribution for Willis’ ongoing probe into whether then-President Donald Trump violated state laws by meddling with the 2020 election.
But supporters of Senate Bill 92 have carefully avoided invoking Willis, instead bringing up the examples of other current and former prosecutors who have faced charges of misconduct or been accused of abusing their powers.
The most frequent example is Deborah Gonzalez, a liberal district attorney who won office to represent a district that includes Kemp’s hometown of Athens by running on a platform promising to bring a more progressive approach to the office. She has called the legislation a “power grab.“
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