Gov. Brian Kemp will sign a measure Friday to create a state commission with powers to investigate, sanction or oust local prosecutors, part of an intensifying campaign by state Republicans to punish district attorneys they see as soft on crime.
The second-term governor was one of the chief advocates for the GOP-backed measure, which was approved mostly along party lines by supporters who cited embarrassing examples of "Rogue prosecutors" they say neglected their duties.
One of the sharpest critics of the proposal is Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who has framed the proposal as racist and retaliatory after voters elected a diverse bloc of prosecutors in 2020.
Supporters of Senate Bill 92 have carefully avoided invoking Willis, instead invoking examples of other current and former prosecutors from both parties who have faced charges of misconduct or accusations of ineffectiveness or ineptitude.
The most frequent example they cite is Deborah Gonzalez, a liberal district attorney who won office as chief prosecutor of Kemp's hometown of Athens with a promise to bring a more progressive approach to the job.
"The whole point of the bill is to restore public safety in places where you have rogue district attorneys who aren't doing their job." Legal pushback Gonzalez's critics point to a recent legal action targeting the district attorney that includes a letter signed by four local judges who plead for her help with rather mundane legal matters, such as providing discovery and witness lists and coordinating with law enforcement.
Critics of the legislation say there's other checks on wayward prosecutors encoded in the law, plus elections every four years to give voters a chance to remove them.
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