Difference between revisions of "Flournoy Train Leads Newbie Off A Cliff"

A hidden and nearly ''taboo'' influence over the outcome of any court case is that of a judge's staff attorney. Staff attorneys provide an array of tasks for their assigned judges which include, but are not limited to, the following:

*Assist the assigned judge in the management of cases

Considering the role of a staff attorney and, in turn, the presumed amount of time spent with the assigned judge, it is safe to assume that a judge's staff attorney has a far greater influence over a judge's final order than any party or their respective attorneys can.

Staff Attorney Matt Freedman spent years under the guidance of Robert E. Flournoy III who is perhaps one of Cobb County’s most controversial Superior Court judges, not known for his integrity but well known for his poor temperament, lack of self control and sometimes incoherent rambling from the bench. Many in the legal community credit Judge Flournoy as the cause for Judge Robert D. Leonard II being challenged in the 2022 election. As the story goes, Judge Leonard refused to disqualify Judge Flournoy from presiding over a case that involved Judge Flournoy’s own attorney and campaign treasurer and, considering Judge Flournoy was not up for re-election, Judge Leonard found himself in a fight to save his job against two challengers in the 2022 Cobb County Superior Court judicial election for enabling Flournoy.

In a comparable child custody case which was assigned to Judge Flournoy prior to his retirement, Judge Flournoy refused to remove a Guardian ad Litem ("GAL") from that case despite a conflict of interest between the GAL and the attorney of record for a plaintiff-father. As expected in light of the presumed bias of the GAL, the father in that case has received full custody of the child and the mother has temporarily been denied all rights despite evidence of physical abuse by the father. The attorney for the mother motioned to have the GAL removed from the case due to the conflict, yet Judge Flournoy denied that request. Though the entire case is a jumbled mess of impropriety, the fact that none of the parties to that case even reside in Cobb County is a matter of severe public concern.

The Cobb County taxpayers are funding the Cobb judiciary to handle matters that extend beyond its jurisdiction. And with what legal authority? In this case, it's simply because Judge Robert E. Flournoy III said so; and his successor either (a) doesn’t understand the basic concepts of jurisdiction or (b) is simply deferring her decision on the matter to her staff without exercising proper independent judgment. Neither cause should be acceptable to The People of Cobb County.  

 

*That case is set for a final hearing on July 10, 2023 at 9:00 AM before the Honorable Sonja N. Brown in Cobb County Superior Court, courtroom 6300.