Carol Hunstein elected new Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice
June 12, 2009 at 12:23 pm by Thomas Wheatley in News
Presiding Justice Carol Hunstein was unanimously elected today to become the new Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court. She succeeds Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears, who is retiring and entering private practice.
Prior to her appointment in 1992 by then-Gov. Zell Miller, Hunstein served as a DeKalb County Superior Court judge and a private-practice attorney. She was the second woman to serve on the Georgia Supreme Court and the first to serve as president of the Council of Superior Court Judges.
Hunstein, a Florida native, served on a variety of commissions, including the Georgia Commission on Gender Bias in the Judicial System and the state’s commission on child support guidelines. She’s also served on the advisory board of several organizations, including the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention and the Georgia Commission on Access and Fairness.
Justice George Carley, a former state lawmaker state Court of Appeals Chief Judge, was elected Presiding Justice. Former Gov. Zell Miller will swear in both to their new positions on July 1.
Interesting tidbit about Hunstein: This will be her second stint as Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice. Kind of.
From the Court’s Justice bio page:
Justice Hunstein was the first woman to serve as President of the Council of Superior Court Judges. By virtue of that office, she was the first person ever to have served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court before becoming a permanent member of the Court. (In 1991, all seven sitting justices recused themselves and designated seven superior court judges to hear and decide a case. Justice Hunstein, as President of the Council, served by designation as Chief Justice.)
There’s an interesting video on YouTube of Hunstein discussing her 2006 re-election campaign at a North Fulton Democrats event. That year was the first that she faced opposition for her seat on the bench. She says she was the target of a national campaign to elect judges who were pro-business and would push tort reform. Her opponent: Mike Wiggins, a former federal official whom Hunstein says came out of the gates screaming politics — for what’s supposed to be a non-partisan position.
As you probably guessed, Hunstein won. The video has some hilarious moments. There’s even a dig at Home Depot.
Here’s the campaign ad Hunstein referred to in the video. Pretty harsh.
(Courtesy Georgia Supreme Court)
June 12th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
What? No wise Latinas?