On Friday, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law a bill that gives Republicans the power to effectively meddle in state investigations should they dislike the prosecutor leading them.
Senate Bill 92 establishes an oversight board, appointed by the governor and other state officials, that will have the power to remove or hamper the work of prosecutors the panel deems incapable of doing the job they want these prosecutors to do.
In a press release, Georgia’s governor claimed the bill is actually meant to target “rogue or incompetent prosecutors who refuse to uphold the law.” And he claimed the new board will hold “prosecutors driven by out-of-touch politics” accountable.
The question is, “out of touch” with whom?
The board will effectively have the power to recall elected district attorneys or solicitors-general even if it goes against voters’ will.
That said, the move is consistent with efforts by conservative lawmakers, at both the federal and state level, to hamper prosecutors — largely, Black prosecutors — who target people Republicans don’t want to target. This nationwide, right-wing crusade against law enforcement is in sync with former President Donald Trump’s attacks on prosecutors who’ve opened investigations into him, including prosecutors in New York, Georgia and Washington, D.C.
In March, the National Black Prosecutors Association decried these attacks in an exclusive statement to The ReidOut Blog.
Republicans, for example, have decried the multiple criminal investigations into Trump, including Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ probe into Trump’s effort to overturn Georgia’s presidential election results in 2020. Georgia Republicans haven’t invoked Willis’ investigation in their prosecutorial oversight push, though the district attorney has made clear she believes the bill is racist and a clear attempt to retaliate against her.
At the same time, the GOP has targeted Willis and other prosecutors with baseless allegations…
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