Beth Beskin
Former U.S. Rep. John Barrow and former state Rep. Beth Beskin filed separate lawsuits after Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger canceled an election to choose a successor to departing state Supreme Court Justice Keith Blackwell. But those suits went down in flames yesterday after the state’s high court ruled 6-2 that a justice’s resignation, once accepted by the governor, must stand.
“When an incumbent justice vacates his office before the end of his term, his existing term of office is eliminated, and the successor justice appointed by the governor serves a new, shortened term that is unrelated to the previous incumbent’s term,” Presiding Justice David Nahmias wrote for the majority..
Beskin, who is now running against incumbent Justice Charlie Bethel, responds with a probing question on her Facebook page:
“Will Justice Charlie Bethel pledge now not to resign but instead serve out his term (ending 12-31-20) if I win on June 9th? (Beskin, even though she lost her lawsuit, decided to run against Bethel in the June 9th non-partisan primary.) ”Otherwise,” she continues, the Georgia Supreme Court seems to have said that I could win on June 9th, Bethel could resign anytime between June 10-December 31st and Gov. (Brian) Kemp could appoint his successor – possibly even Justice Charlie Bethel after he lost to me on June 9th. Surely that can’t be right.”
Beskin, a former Republican state lawmaker, concludes: “Let’s let Georgians vote for Justice!”
Beskin’s pique is shared by a Court dissenter, Judge Brenda Holbert Trammell. She writes: “We must reconcile two constitutional provisions. One guarantees the rights of the voters to determine the next justice of the Georgia Supreme Court. The other grants to the governor the right to fill vacancies in such office by appointment. (The) majority gives the greater weight to the provisions allowing appointment. Because I feel that this denies the people the right to elect their justice as provided by the Constitution, I cannot agree with the majority position.”
