Union County Sheriff Mack Mason is the latest Georgia sheriff to write U.S. Senators David Perdue and Johnny Isakson to oppose President Barack Obama’s nomination of DeKalb County State Court Judge Dax Lopez to the federal District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. “Considering Judge Lopez’s partnership and service on behalf of GALEO (the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials), I urge you not to support this nomination,” the sheriff declares. “Being in contact with my fellow sheriffs and local constituents, there is no reason why Lopez should receive this appointment.”
The nomination is subject to U.S. Senate confirmation and it is unclear when or if the Senate Judiciary Committee, of which Perdue is a member, will consider it. Capitol Hill sources tell InsiderAdvantage that if one of Georgia’s senators oppose the nomination it will go nowhere with Judiciary Chairman Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.
Lopez’s longtime service as a board director and speaker of behalf of the pro-illegal immigrant advocacy/lobbying organization GALEO, Mason writes, “arguably runs afoul of Canon 5 of the Georgia Code of Judicial Conduct” which states in part that:
“Judges Shall Regulate Their Extra-Judicial Activities to Minimize the Risk of Conflict with Their Judicial Duties… Judges may not participate in civic and charitable activities that reflect adversely upon their impartiality or interfere with the performance of their judicial duties. Judges may serve as officers, directors, trustees, or non-legal advisors of educational, religious, charitable, fraternal, or civic organizations not conducted for the economic or political advantage of their members, subject to the following limitations: (1) Judges shall not serve if it is likely that the organization will be engaged in proceedings that would ordinarily come before them or will be regularly engaged in adversary proceedings in any court. Commentary: The changing nature of some organizations and of their relationship to the law makes it necessary for judges regularly to re-examine the activities of each organization with which they are affiliated to determine if it is proper for them to continue their relationship with it. For example, in many jurisdictions charitable hospitals are now more frequently in court than in the past. Similarly, the boards of some legal aid organizations now make policy decisions that may have political significance or imply commitment to causes that may come before the courts for adjudication.”
The sheriff writes to the senators that “GALEO has filed amicus briefs in cases involving immigration law and policy. See Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights et al v. Governor Nathan Deal, et al (U.S. District Court for Northern District of Georgia, Case No. 1:11-cv-1804-TWT) and State of Texas et al v. United States of America et al (United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, Appeal No. 15-40238).”
Lopez’s willingness to risk violation of Canon 5 with his longtime service on GALEO’s board of directors, Mason concludes, “should raise serious questions about the propriety of moving forward with confirmation proceedings.”
