Mask Rematch Set for 'Kemp v. Bottoms'
A new Zoom hearing has been set for Tuesday morning in the showdown between Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.
July 22, 2020 at 04:28 PM
4 minute read
The original version of this story was published on Daily Report
A new Zoom hearing has been set for the showdown over masks between Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.
Save the date: Next Tuesday at 10 a.m.
That's exactly one week after the first attempt.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Jane Barwick is scheduled to hear the governor's motion for emergency interlocutory injunction against the mayor and the Atlanta City Council.
Translation: He's going to ask to block the mayor from requiring face mask-wearing or otherwise exceeding his orders for handling the COVID-19 health crisis, and he's going to ask to block the councilmembers from approving such requests from their mayor.
Barwick is the third judge assigned to the case after two others recused themselves. And that was just Tuesday.
Judge Kelly Lee Ellerbe abruptly canceled a hearing that was set for 11 a.m. Tuesday and signed an emergency recusal order removing herself from the case at the request of one of the governor's lawyers from the office of Attorney General Chris Carr.
"Judge Ellerbe notified all of the parties that she spoke with an appellate judge to talk about a prior opinion that she felt may have some bearing on the issues in this case. Judge Ellerbe became concerned about having had this discussion, and she immediately notified the parties. Our office appreciates Judge Ellerbe's transparency and professionalism," Carr's communications director said Tuesday.
Earlier Tuesday morning, Deputy Attorney General Julie Adams Jacobs asked the judge to recuse in an email.
"This particular case has drawn significant attention at the state and national level, and therefore, we believe for all parties concerned, that even any potential perception of impropriety could be problematic," Jacobs said. "Accordingly, we would request your recusal. We would also ask that this case be assigned to the presiding judge to maintain the emergency status of the pending motions."
Just two minutes earlier, at 8:37 a.m. Tuesday, an attorney for the mayor and the Atlanta City Council said they had no problem with Ellerbe continuing with the case.
"Please inform the Court that the Defendants' counsel have discussed with the client the Court's disclosure made on the record yesterday afternoon, and Defendants have no objection to the Court proceeding to hear this matter," Michael Terry of Bondurant Mixson & Elmore said to the judge's staff attorney.
But Terry did object to the state's request to reassign the case to the presiding judge. "The Court must make its own judgment on recusal," Terry said in an email responding to the attorney general's request for recusal. "However, it would be improper for a recused judge to refer a matter to the Presiding Judge. The recused Judge may take no action except recusing and putting the case back on the wheel. It would then be up to the assigned judge to decide whether to hear the case or refer it to the presiding judge. Any other action taken by a recusing judge is void."
The case was reassigned to Judge Shawn Ellen LaGrua. But then LaGrua recused, too.
"The basis for the Court's recusal is as follows: (1) Judge LaGrua formerly worked as Inspector General for Governor Brian P. Kemp in his capacity as Georgia Secretary of State; and (2) Judge LaGrua has been and remains under consideration for Gubernatorial appointments by Governor Brian P. Kemp," LaGrua said in her recusal order Tuesday. "Thus, to avoid any appearance of impropriety or bias on the part of this Court, the Court hereby directs that this matter be removed from the docket of Judge Shawn Ellen LaGrua and reassigned to another Judge."
LaGrua is on the short list the Judicial Nominating Commission has sent Kemp for filling the vacancy on the Georgia Supreme Court created by the upcoming resignation of Justice Keith Blackwell, who has said he will leave in November.
So that's how Barwick became the third judge in one day on a case that has yet to make its first court appearance. Stay tuned.
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