Yesterday Gov. Brian Kemp announced twenty-five appointments to the Judicial Nominating Commission, an advisory body that interviews superior, state and appellate judge applicants and gives recommendations to the governor when judicial vacancies occur.
Some of the appointees raised eyebrows. It is no surprise that trusted Kemp lawyers Mark Middleton and Vincent Russo, along with Blue Ridge Judicial Circuit District Attorney Shannon Wallace, will serve as the JNC co-chairs. Some surprise appointments, though, are Derek Bottoms, the husband of Atlanta’s Democratic Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. Some observers tell InsiderAdvantage he is an odd pick since the Bottoms-controlled city hall is currently the target of a federal corruption probe.
Another surprise is to have a sitting Georgia Supreme Court justice, Michael Boggs, named to a body that would recommend, well, future Supreme Court justices. And yet another head-scratcher is the choice of trial attorney Lance Cooper, no friend to conservatives.
There are, course, conservative attorneys named to Kemp’s JNC. But perhaps only about half of the 25 are members of the constitutionalist Federalist Society. (By contrast, former Gov. Nathan Deal often chose as judges Federalists or Federalist-recommended members of the bar.)
While the new JNC is not as conservative-oriented as some conservatives would prefer, insiders note that the governor has the final say. He can receive advice from his JNC, but he is not bound to follow its judicial candidate recommendations.
