Child endangering Cobb County judge prepares for senior judgeship

Governor Kemp To Approve The Application

Former Cobb County Superior Court judge, the Honorable Robert E. Flournoy, III, retired on December 31, 2022 and has publicly conveyed his intention to take the bench and continue as a “Senior Judge” any day now. The only hoop to pass through at this point is getting Governor Brian Kemp to sign Flournoy’s application for the coveted and prestigious role of senior judgeship. Under Georgia law, "Senior judge status . . . shall be acquired by a qualified former judge's applying to the Governor for appointment as senior judge. The Governor shall appoint each qualified applicant as a senior judge." See O.C.G.A. 15-1-9.2. So what could stop Kemp from lending his golden seal (signature) of approval? To answer that question, perhaps we should understand what keeps Judge Flournoy from being the typical “shoe-in applicant” for the position.

Circumventing the Jury in Favor of Defendant Pedophile

In 2009, Christian Boone of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) authored an article entitled It’s gross, but it ain’t illegal: Judge says teacher not guilty for having sex with student. The article discusses the …

The AJC article doesn’t really emphasize exactly how dangerous that decision would have been had the Legislature not acted a year later.

Cronyism and Bullying from the Bench

Perhaps Flournoy’s most notorious trait is his unruly temperament on the bench and his failure to recuse himself from cases that he should not preside over. For example, in 2010 he Kreegar . Now, at the time, this all could have been chalked up to be a matter of unfortunate events for the prosecutors of one of the most famous RICO cases, and perhaps the largest, in Cobb County history. But judge Kreegar has swooped in in a more recent case in a far more controversial capacity with some of the same players as before. Comparing the key players in both cases, we have: Browning Kreegar Flournoy

Legacy: Some People Never Change

In another case pending in Cobb County, judge Flournoy engaged in what was described as a yelling match. In another custody case,…, the custodial father has completely on August 8, 2022, even though the case had been closed for over four years, judge Flournoy released a lot of sensitive evidence by order to the Clerk of Court. All evidence was either released or destroyed with no electronic copies left on the record.

Despite his notoriety, the Judicial Qualifications Commission (JQC) has not shown itself as attempting to deter Flournoy. “The reality is if the JQC was functional and doing its job in Cobb, we wouldn’t have so many problems with our judges,” said Marietta Attorney, Matt McMaster, who has publicly been one of Judge Flournoy's biggest critics as of late. “[Flournoy’s] decisions and influence have already enabled dangerous situations and there is no reasonable expectation that he will change his philosophy or habits once he is a senior judge. Senior judges are responsible for handling sensitive matters such as temporary restraining orders for stalking and abuse and similar matters related to child custody. Flournoy has a reputation of succumbing to his ego, deferring his judgment to his friends who aren't necessarily known for their integrity in the legal community, and not impartially considering the facts of a case. We can't have this with our senior judges.”

An Open Records Request regarding Flournoy’s application was sent to Governor Kemp’s office on behalf of Navigating Justice on January 2, 2023, but no word on that request has been received as of the publishing of this article. Right now, it's all eyes on Kemp.

Director of the JQC, Chuck Boring did not respond to questioning.
The Judicial Qualifications Commission was created by Constitutional Amendment in 1972, then reconstituted by Constitutional Amendment in 2016, to conduct investigations and hearings with respect to complaints of ethical misconduct by Georgia judges. The Commission is also authorized to issue Advisory Opinions regarding judicial misconduct. Read more at gajqc.gov.