Prominent Democrat, Republican unite to oppose Georgia Amendment 3

Columbus state Sen. Josh McKoon and prominent Georgia trial lawyer S. Lester Tate III have joined forces to oppose a constitutional amendment that would alter the process in which judges are disciplined or removed from the bench.

McKoon, the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Tate, a lifelong Democrat, were in Columbus on Tuesday as part of a statewide tour touting the issues with Amendment 3 that appears on the General Election ballot for the Nov. 8 election.

“We were asked to go out on campaign trail to demonstrate it was a nonpartisan issue,” said Tate, who resigned in April as JQC chairman after the General Assembly voted this year to put the issue to the voters. “I am proud at this time of political division to be able to work with Sen. McKoon on this.”

McKoon agrees.

“One of the messages we are trying to send is this isn’t a partisan issue,” McKoon said. “There are measures on the ballot that people consider, ‘That’s a Republican issue or that’s a Democratic issue.’ For me, and I think for Lester, this is a right or wrong issue. It is important for voters to see you’ve got Democrats and Republicans coming together, and this is a mistake and we don’t need to go down this road.”

The Amendment 3 ballot questions reads:

“Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to abolish the existing Judicial Qualifications Commission; require the General Assembly to create and provide by general law for the composition, manner of appointment, and governance of a new Judicial Qualifications Commission, with such commission having the power to discipline, remove, and cause involuntary retirement of judges; require the Judicial Qualifications Commission to have procedures that provide for due process of law and review by the Supreme Court of its advisory opinions; and allow the Judicial Qualifications Commission to be open to the public in some manner?”

What that boils down to is this:

▪  A “yes” vote supports replacing the current JQC with a new commission designed and governed by the General Assembly.

▪  A”no” keeps the current independent commission.

There has been little campaigning on either side of the issue, and that is one of the reasons opponents are trying to piece together a media blitz in the state’s largest cities. McKoon and Tate were in Macon earlier Tuesday.

“If I did not fear it was going to pass, I wouldn’t be out on the road campaigning against it,” said Tate of Cartersville. “I would be in my law office practicing law for paying clients.”

The State Bar of Georgia has not taken a public stand on the amendment. The organization’s Board of Governors voted last month at a meeting in Callaway Gardens not to take a public stand on Amendment 3.

“There is feeling among bar leadership that if they engage in this issue now they are not going to have a seat at the table if and when the JQC is changed,” McKoon said.

Tate said, though many of state’s attorneys are concerned about the amendment, the lack of a stance is political.

“As a past president of the Georgia Bar, I am frankly embarrassed that the Georgia Bar has not taken a position against the amendment,” Tate said. “They did take a position against the legislation when it was moving through.”

There are reforms that can and should be made to the JQC, McKoon said, but the constitutional amendment is not the way it should happen.

“This should have been done similar to the reforms in criminal justice and transportation,” McKoon said. “There should have been a study committee that spent a year to get it right, then drop the bill. ... I don’t think there’s anybody that will tell you the JQC is perfect.”

If Amendment 3 passes, it opens the door for political favors, Tate said.

“If you can ram through a constitutional amendment, you better believe those same folks won’t have a problem with picking up the phone and calling the commissioner they appointed and saying, ‘I want you to go easy on my friend the judge because he’s a good guy,’ ” Tate said.

This story was originally published November 2, 2016 at 9:12 AM with the headline "Prominent Democrat, Republican unite to oppose Georgia Amendment 3."