ATLANTA — More than 80 current and former elected prosecutors signed on to an amicus brief urging a Georgia court to overrule a new law that created a new commission to oversee Georgia prosecutors.

The brief was submitted in support of an Aug. 2 lawsuit filed in Fulton County Superior Court by four Georgia prosecutors challenging the constitutionality of Senate Bill 92.

The Republican-backed bill created the Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission, which will have the power to investigate and remove local prosecutors from office.

In the amicus brief filed Sept. 5 in the case, the 84 signatories argue that SB 92 illegally infringes on prosecutorial discretion, undermines local control and self-governance, will reduce transparency in prosecutors’ offices, and raises questions about fairness and politicization of the justice system.

“The impact of SB 92 is no longer hypothetical — already, some politicians are seeking to use it to protect their political interests and power, and it is fundamentally at odds with our democracy to allow these intrusions on local control and prosecutorial independence to stand,” said former federal prosecutor Miriam Krinsky. “We hope that the court will protect the well-established apolitical role of prosecutorial discretion and ensure that the people of Georgia maintain the right to choose leaders who best reflect their community’s vision of justice.”

A state senator recently called for the commission to investigate Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis after she led indictments against former President Donald Trump for alleged election interference in 2020. Republicans have accused Willis of using her judicial power to influence politics.

At an Aug. 31 news conference, Gov. Brian Kemp referred to the PAQC in lieu of adhering to Republicans’ request for a special session to investigate Willis.

“Up to this point, I have not seen any evidence that DA Willis’ actions or lack thereof warrant action by the (PAQC). But that will ultimately be a decision that the commission will make,” Kemp said. “Regardless, in my mind a special session of the General Assembly to end run around this law is not feasible and may ultimately prove to be unconstitutional.”

The signatories the amicus brief stressed that the oversight commission infringes on the rights of voters to be represented by their chosen elected leaders. They emphasize that the commission “can remove an official, no matter how many people voted for that person, how well the prosecutor’s decisions reflect their values, and how safe the community is.”

The former prosecutors who signed onto the brief include U.S. Attorneys and Department of Justice officials, as well as former prosecutors from states as far as Hawaii.

“As an elected prosecutor, I am accountable to my community to follow through on their vision of justice and public safety, and every four years, they get to decide whether I have done enough to earn their support,” said Wyandotte County (Kansas City, Kan.) District Attorney Mark Dupree, a signatory to the brief. “But SB 92 threatens to upend that system of democracy in Georgia by allowing outside forces to oust prosecutors over nothing more than political differences.” “

In response to the lawsuit early August, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr said SB 92 is mechanism to hold district attorneys and solicitors general accountable who may choose to forego prosecuting or may prioritize the prosecution of certain crimes.

“Unfortunately, some DAs have embraced the progressive movement across the nation of refusing to enforce the law,” he said. “That is a dereliction of duty, and as a result, Georgia’s communities suffer.”

Notably, some prosecutors have indicated their intent to not prosecute abortion-related cases, and some prosecutors have reportedly not prosecuted misdemeanor marijuana offenses.

A hearing in the challenge to the new law has not yet been scheduled.

About the Prosecuting Attorneys Qualifications Commission

Per SB 92, rules and regulations established by the PAQC are expected to be established by Oct. 1.

The commission will have the authority to investigate, discipline or remove elected district attorneys or solicitors-general in instances where they are consistently not fulfilling their duties.

The bill states that prosecutors are required to “review every individual case for which probable cause for prosecution exists, and make a prosecutorial decision under the law based on the facts and circumstances of each individual case. …”

The governor and lieutenant governor — both Republican — each appointed one attorney to the five-member investigative panel of the PAQC. The Republican speaker of the House appointed two attorneys and the GOP-dominated Senate Committee on Assignments appointed one attorney.

The governor, speaker of the House and Senate Committee on Assignments each appointed a member to the three-person hearing panel of the PAQC.

Members of the PAQC are listed below.

Hearing panel

• John Herbert Cranford, Jr., district attorney for the Coweta Judicial Circuit
• Bibb County Superior Court Judge Howard Simms
• (chair) Stacey Jackson, district attorney for the Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit

Investigative panel

• District Attorney Randy McGinley of the Alcovy Judicial Circuit
• John Ott, Senior Superior Court Judge for the Alcovy Judicial Circuit
• Former Bulloch County Solicitor General Joseph Cowart
• Steve Scheer, a Savannah-area attorney
• Cobb County Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney Jason Saliba