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)
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The blast from the point hit Roope Hintz in the right arm, causing him to fall to the ice in pain.
Just seconds later, however, he sent the same puck into the empty net on the other side of the rink to seal the victory.
“That's how you win championships,” Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger said.
The Stars as a team are showing their mettle, bouncing back from losing the first two games of their NHL playoffs first-round series at home by beating the defending champion Vegas Golden Knights twice in their building, including 4-2 on Monday night.
Game 5 is Wednesday night in Dallas.
Evgenii Dadonov, Wyatt Johnston and Ty Dellandrea also scored for the Stars, and Oettinger made 33 saves. Johnston has three goals in the past two games, including the Game 3 winner in overtime.
Michael Amadio and Jack Eichel had goals for the Golden Knights, and Logan Thompson stopped 28 shots. Eichel has scored goals in three consecutive games and has six points in this series.
Both teams were the beneficiaries of goals in the first period the goalies would like to have back.
Amadio squeezed a rebound that trickled past Oettinger with 5:35 left, and 2 1/2 minutes later Dadonov scored from the goal line when the puck went off Thompson's mask into the net. The Knights outshot the Stars 14-8 in the period.
That changed in the second when the Stars outshot Vegas 17-6 and scored twice to take a 3-2 lead.
Eichel knocked in a goal off a rebound 3:09 into the period, and Johnston had a power-play goal off a rebound midway through the period to tie it again. The Stars benefited from a bit of good luck when Craig Smith's shot went off Dellandrea's chest and into the net with 1:26 left.
Knights coach Bruce Cassidy called Dellandrea's goal “inexcusable.”
“We can get out of the period 2-2,” Cassidy said. “We stayed too long in the shift. Then we mismanaged the puck. It's a fortunate play, but they're putting everything to the net. You're going to get some of those bounces.”
Dellandrea scored two third-period goals in Game 5 of last year's Western Conference final to keep the Stars' playoff hopes alive.
“He likes playing in Vegas,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “He's a playoff-type player. He doesn't shrink in the room.”
Content with the lead, the Stars followed the Knights' playbook from the first two games and focused on playing defense in the third period. Even though Vegas outshot Dallas 15-7 in the third, the Stars repeatedly broke up scoring chances and forced the Knights into difficult shots.
“I thought in the second period we really took control of the game,” DeBoer said. “The play in the third period was just lock it down. You don't like to sit back that much, but I felt like we were smart like they were in Dallas when they had the lead going into the third.”
Dallas ended any doubts when Hintz buried the empty-netter with 1:22 left.
The Stars have shown they won't be an easy out. They came to Las Vegas down 2-0 and in Game 4 twice had to rally.
“There’s no panic in our game,” Stars captain Jamie Benn said. “You knew they were going to come out hard. They’re a good team. We weathered the storm and found a way to win.”
Benn appeared in his 87th playoff game as the Stars' captain, the most in franchise history. Derian Hatcher, captain of the 1999 Stanley Cup championship team, played in 86 games.
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Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger (29) makes a save against the Vegas Golden Knights during the second period in Game 4 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series Monday, April 29, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)
Dallas Stars centers Ty Dellandrea (10) and Sam Steel (18) celebrate after Dellandrea's goal while Vegas Golden Knights center Ivan Barbashev (49) reacts during the second period in Game 4 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series Monday, April 29, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)
Dallas Stars center Ty Dellandrea (10) checks Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo (7) during the first period in Game 4 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series Monday, April 29, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)
Vegas Golden Knights center Jack Eichel (9) and Dallas Stars center Matt Duchene (95) collide during overtime in Game 3 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series Saturday, April 27, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)
Dallas Stars left wing Jamie Benn (14) checks Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb (3) during the first period in Game 4 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series Monday, April 29, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)
Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb (3) celebrates after right wing Michael Amadio (22) scored during the first period against the Dallas Stars in Game 4 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series Monday, April 29, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)
Dallas Stars right wing Evgenii Dadonov (63) and defenseman Chris Tanev (3) celebrate after Dadonov's goal during the first period against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 4 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series Monday, April 29, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)
