Gov. Brian Kemp wants to add the name of former U.S. congressman and one-time U.S. Attorney Bob Barr to a five-person recommendations list for a state Judicial Qualifications Commission slot that opens on July 1. While there was no dissension among the JQC committee drawing up the list, InsiderAdvantage has learned that there are prominent opponents to Barr– including state Supreme Court Justice David Nahmias.
Fmr. U.S. Rep. Bob Barr
That Barr’s name is added to the list of lawyers the State Bar recommended to replace Athens attorney (and JQC chairman) Ed Tolley is a sign that Kemp wants to name him. The governor is allowed one appointment to the panel, which can probe Georgia judges’ misconduct and initiate ethics charges against judges.
It is not known why Nahmias has contacted the governor to oppose Barr, but it raises eyebrows in the legal community. Several lawyers contacting this author say it is improper for a sitting judge to weigh in for or against a potential JQC member.
Barr was an outspoken Republican congressman serving from 1995 to 2003. The Cobb Countian was also a one-time Libertarian Party candidate for president, served as a longtime board member of the National Rifle Association and was the first U.S. House member to initiate impeachment legislation against then-President Bill Clinton.
In addition to Barr, the Fulton Daily Report says the other names on the recommendation list to replace Tolley include:
- Sam Olens, a former state attorney general and former president of Kennesaw State University who is now in the Atlanta offices of Dentons.
- Scott Delius, a former member of the U.S. Army JAG Corps in Afghanistan and a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army National Guard.
- Rome attorney Christopher Twyman, a partner at Cox, Byington, Twyman & Johnson and vice president of the Rome Bar Association.
- Columbus attorney LaRae Dixon Moore, a former senior assistant district attorney and federal public defender now at partner at Page Scrantom Sprouse Tucker Ford.
- Matthew Moffett, a partner at Gray Rust St. Amand Moffett Brieske in Atlanta and former president of the Georgia Defense Lawyers Association.
