ATLANTA — Gov. Nathan Deal has appointed a commission that will review his proposal to add two justices to the Georgia Supreme Court, a plan that could give the Republican the chance to potentially appoint a majority of the justices to the powerful court’s bench before he leaves office.
Deal said Monday that the Appellate Jurisdiction Review Commission will consider whether to add two justices to the seven-member court. The recommendations are expected to be finalized weeks before lawmakers return to Atlanta for another legislative session.
“As our state continues to grow, the demands of the court also grow. And we have to keep up with that,” he said. “And I believe that will be one of the things we at least should consider as part of our overall criminal justice reform.”
Earlier this year, Deal won legislative approval for an expansion of the Georgia Court of Appeals from 12 to 15. More than 100 applicants sought the positions, and the Judicial Nominating Commission has whittled the list down to 42 finalists.
Increasing the number of judges on Georgia’s Supreme Court is likely to be a tougher fight. Critics are likely to raise the specter of a chief executive “packing” the court, much like the pushback that stymied Franklin Roosevelt’s attempt to expand the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1930s.
The proposal’s supporters may try to smooth the way by striking a compromise with the judicial branch that could involve a new judicial building and a plan to shift more of the cases that would now be heard by the Georgia Supreme Court to a lower court.
