Three district attorneys in Georgia have renewed their challenge of a commission created to discipline and remove state prosecutors, arguing it violates the U.S. and Georgia constitutions.
Their lawsuits filed Tuesday in Fulton County Superior Court in Atlanta challenge Georgia’s Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission, a body Republican lawmakers revived this year after originally creating it in 2023.
Democrats fear the commission has one primary goal: derailing Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis ' prosecution of former President Donald Trump.
Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed legislation last year creating the commission, but it couldn't begin operating, because the state Supreme Court refused to approve rules governing its conduct. The justices said they had “grave doubts” about ability of the top court to regulate the decisions district attorneys make.
Lawmakers then removed the requirement for court approval, a change Kemp signed into law. The commission began operating April 1.
The challenge is being led by Sherry Boston, the district attorney in the Atlanta suburb of DeKalb County; Jared Williams of Augusta and neighboring Burke County; and Jonathan Adams of Butts, Lamar and Monroe counties south of Atlanta. Adams is a Republican, the others are Democrats. Boston said their “commitment to fight this unconstitutional law is as strong as ever.”
"We will continue to push back against this shameless attempt by state Republicans to control how local communities address their public safety needs and work to restore that power to Georgia voters,” Boston said in a statement.
Republicans in Tennessee, Missouri, Indiana, Pennsylvania and Florida have pushed back on prosecutors who announced they would pursue fewer drug possession cases and shorter prison sentences as a matter of criminal justice reform.
“When district attorneys fail to do their jobs, crime goes up and victims are denied justice," Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, a Republican, said in a statement. "We’re fighting to keep all Georgians safe, and we’re fully prepared to defend this law in court.”
The Georgia law raises fundamental questions about prosecutorial discretion, a bedrock of the American judicial system says a prosecutor decides what charges to bring and how heavy of a sentence to seek.
The prosecutors say the law violates Georgia’s constitutional separation of powers by requiring district attorneys to review every single case on its individual merits. Instead, district attorneys argue they should be able to reject prosecution of whole categories of crimes as a matter of policy.
Legislators, they argue, don't have “freewheeling power to intrude on the core function of the district attorney: deciding how to prosecute each case.”
They law also violates the federal and state constitutional guarantees of freedom of speech by restricting what matters of public concern district attorneys can talk about when running for office, they say.
“There is no valid governmental purpose for restricting prosecutors’ speech regarding their prosecutorial approach, and that restriction undermines core values of self governance by weakening voters’ ability to evaluate and choose among candidates,” the suit states, arguing the law illegally discriminates in favor of viewpoints favoring harsher prosecution.
The suit also argues that it's illegal to ban prosecutors who are removed by the commission from running again for 10 years, and says the new commission illegally failed to consult a state agency in writing its rules and failed to allow for public comment before adopting them.
Democrat Flynn Broady, the district attorney in suburban Cobb County, joined the first lawsuit but not the second after a staff member was appointed to the commission, creating a potential legal conflict.
Efforts to control prosecutors in some other states have hit legal obstacles. Last year, a judge struck down Tennessee law allowing the state attorney general to intervene in death penalty decisions. And in Florida, a federal judge found Gov. Ron DeSantis illegally targeted Tampa-area prosecutor Andrew Warren because he’s a Democrat who publicly supported abortion and transgender rights. but did not reinstate Warren.
FILE - DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston speaks during a news conference in front of the DeKalb County Courthouse in Decatur, Ga., Oct. 14, 2019. Boston is one of three Georgia district attorneys who sued again on Tuesday, April 16, 2024, to overturn a law that lets a new commission to discipline and remove prosecutors. (Alyssa Pointer/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, File)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The cheers were endless Saturday in the PGA Championship, and when another record day of scoring finally ended at vulnerable Valhalla, so were the possibilities.
Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa were tied for the lead. Shane Lowry thrust his way into the mix with a 62 to tie a major championship record last set just two days earlier. Bryson DeChambeau chipped in for eagle on the last hole to set off a wild celebration.
And all Scottie Scheffler could do during all this chaos — at least it was inside the ropes this time — was listen to them.
Scheffler's remarkable streak of 42 consecutive rounds at par or better finally ended in the second-lowest scoring average for a Saturday at the PGA Championship. He faded early, never quite recovered and shot 73 to finish eight shots back with 23 players ahead of him.
“Too many mistakes,” Scheffler told CBS. He declined to speak to reporters. “I came out here hoping to have a good round and didn’t get it done.”
Schauffele, who opened the week with a 62 that felt easy, labored to stay in front and was two shots ahead until a 9-iron came out hot and sailed over the green at the 15th. With water on the other side of the green, he was careful with a chip out of shin-high grass and moved it 10 feet. He chipped on and two-putted for a double bogey, only his second hole over par this week.
Schauffele bounced back with two closing birdies for a 3-under 68.
Morikawa briefly took the lead with a 6-foot birdie putt that went 360 degrees around the cup before dropping on the 15th, and he holed a 10-foot birdie on the 18th for a 67 to tie Schauffele. They were at 15-under 198 with plenty of company.
Sahith Theegala birdied six of his last 10 holes for a 68 and was one shot behind. Another shot back was the trio of Lowry, DeChambeau (67) and Viktor Hovland (66) — a British Open champion, U.S. Open champion and FedEx Cup champion.
And it didn't stop there. Fifteen players were separated by five shots.
“There are a ton of guys who can do it tomorrow,” Morikawa said.
The shocker was Scheffler not being among them.
Scheffler was coming off the most heart-racing day of his career that featured an arrest for not following police orders, brief jail time and a 66 to get into contention for a second straight major. But he was never a factor after an early stretch of double bogey-bogey-bogey.
“I definitely did not feel like myself today,” he said. “Yesterday happened, I did my best to recover from it and come out and compete. This morning was not my usual routine for a round. At the end of the day, I came out hoping to have a good round but I wasn’t able to get it done, which was frustrating.”
Even at the home of the Kentucky Derby, this final round could be tough to handicap.
Lowry's magnificent performance — he made 161 feet worth of putts — ended with a wedge to just inside 12 feet and a clear shot at 61, only to not give the putt enough pace.
“Probably the most disappointed anyone can ever be shooting 62,” Lowry said. “Look, I went out there with a job to do today, and my job was to try to get myself back in the tournament. And I definitely did that.”
DeChambeau had only three birdies and didn't get much out of his round until he chipped in for his eagle, a moment so loud it was hard to tell if he or the thousands of fans were more excited. He said he hasn't felt that kind of energy since his 58 to win LIV Golf Greenbrier last year.
“Exhilarating,” he said. “That was pretty exciting there. I was pretty pumped. I’ve got a good chance. I’m not executing to the level that I know I can, but playing well enough to give myself a chance, obviously.”
Justin Rose (64) was three shots back. The group five behind at 10-under 203 included Justin Thomas, the Louisville native who felt chills on a steamy day of sunshine when he hacked out of the weeds, down to the green and into the cup on the par-3 14th for a most unlikely birdie. He shot 67.
That's 15 players at 10 under or better, the most through 54 holes in major championship history. The previous record was seven players, most recently at St. Andrews in 2022.
The scoring average for the third round was 69.55, a fraction behind the record for the PGA Championship set at Bellerive in 2018.
This was the day to go low just to stay in the hunt. Scheffler, using fill-in caddie with regular looper Ted Scott attending his daughter's high school graduation in Louisiana, was in trouble from the start — a double bogey on No. 2 from mangled rough, a tee shot into a hazard left of the reachable par-4 fourth hole.
He was 4 over through four holes, and on three occasions he followed a birdie with a bogey. It was his highest score since a 73 in the third round of the Tour Championship last August.
Now the focus turns to Schauffele, the Olympic gold medalist from the Tokyo Games in 2021 who is trying to bag a silver prize — the heavy Wanamaker Trophy — for his first major. Schauffele has been leading or tied in six of his last seven rounds.
The exception was losing a 54-hole lead last week to Rory McIlroy's closing 65 at Quail Hollow.
“I just need to stay in my lane, and hopefully it's enough,” Schauffele said.
Morikawa already had two majors at age 24 and is slowly working his way back to that smooth, repeatable swing. He had one early wobble missing a 4-foot par putt on the second hole, and that was really his only big mistake.
There was no shortage of candidates to claim the second major of the year. It was crowded at the top, just like it was at Harding Park in 2020, when a dozen players were separated by three shots going into the final round. Morikawa emerged with his first major.
“Look, I’ve played against all these guys. It’s not like any of these guys are new,” Morikawa said. “They all have their accolades within themselves, and really anyone can go low.”
AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Xander Schauffele hits from the fairway on the 17th hole during the third round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Valhalla Golf Club, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Sahith Theegala waves after making a putt on the 18th hole during the third round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Valhalla Golf Club, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Sahith Theegala reacts to his shot from the fairway on the 18th hole during the third round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Valhalla Golf Club, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Bryson DeChambeau celebrates after a eagle on the 18th hole during the third round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Valhalla Golf Club, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Bryson DeChambeau celebrates after a eagle on the 18th hole during the third round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Valhalla Golf Club, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Shane Lowry, of Ireland, celebrates after a birdie on the 13th hole during the third round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Valhalla Golf Club, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Matt York)
Justin Rose, of England, greets Shane Lowry, of Ireland, after the third round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Valhalla Golf Club, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Scottie Scheffler reacts to his chip to the green on the fourth hole during the third round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Valhalla Golf Club, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Scottie Scheffler waits to play on the second hole during the third round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Valhalla Golf Club, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Collin Morikawa hits from the fairway on the 18th hole during the third round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Valhalla Golf Club, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Collin Morikawa waves after making a putt on the 18th hole during the third round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Valhalla Golf Club, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Xander Schauffele watches his tee shot on the fourth hole during the third round of the PGA Championship golf tournament at the Valhalla Golf Club, Saturday, May 18, 2024, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Matt York)
