Difference between revisions of "Georgia Governor repeats mistake of former governor Roy Barnes, but did Kemp have a choice?"

The Honorable Robert E. Flournoy, III,  was appointed to the Cobb County Superior Court bench by Governor Roy E. Barnes on July 14, 2000 and was elected without opposition in 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018. He was named "Cobb County Judge of the Year" in 2005 and was the recipient of the "Jimmy Berry Champion of Justice Award" in 2015. Judge Flournoy retired on December 31, 2022 and has since been appointed as a “Senior Judge” of the Superior Courts of Georgia by Governor Brian Kemp. This appointment is of course not without controversy. 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'' [https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/2021/title-15/chapter-1/section-15-1-9-2/ O.C.G.A. 15-1-9.2]. According to Open Records, Judge Flournoy sent his application for Senior Judge status to Governor Brian Kemp's office on October 24, 2022,<ref>[https://thewikilaw.org/wiki/images/3/3d/Flournoy%2C_Robert_-_Request_-_Cobb_Judicial_Circuit_-_10.24.22.pdf Judge Robert E. Flournoy, III Request For Appointment as Senior Judge]</ref> However, the statute requires an application by a qualified "former" judge and not a judge still presiding during his or her final elected term. That being said, there exists a potential procedural blemish in the initiation of Flournoy's application. Despite this timing issue, Governor Kemp granted Flournoy’s request appointing him as a senior judge on January 4, 2023. Procedural snafu aside, why else might Judge Flournoy lack qualification for senior judge status? To answer that question, perhaps we should understand more about Flournoy’s suspect decisions during his tenure on the bench.

* Tyler Browning, Judge Flournoy's first staff attorney, latest campaign chairman and son of long time friend Tom Browning

Despite his personal relationships with Roy Barnes and Tyler Browning, Flournoy did not recuse himself from that case. Judge Flournoy, Judge Kreeger and Tom Browning would years later collectively play a much more sinister roll in enabling a situation of potential child grooming that could lead to [https://thewikilaw.org/wiki/index.php?title=The_Lion%27s_Den human trafficking].<ref>[https://thewikilaw.org/wiki/images/a/af/Borders.PDF Affidavit of Stephanie Borders]</ref><ref>[https://thewikilaw.org/wiki/images/5/53/Fernando.pdf Affidavit of Fernando Zapien Ramirez]</ref> That case is better known as "[https://thewikilaw.org/wiki/index.php?title=The_Lion%27s_Den The Lion’s Den]."

A dangerous loophole exists in the “new” Equitable Caregiver Act, which was enacted in 2019. This was most notably made known in 2021 when a combination of judges and attorneys, including Judge Flournoy, Judge Kreeger and attorney Tom Browning, enabled the placement of a 15-year-old girl (now 17) into the home of a 42-year-old unmarried man, not blood related to her and who had a history of [https://thewikilaw.org/wiki/images/1/1b/Cobb_Superior_21101795_Affidavit_Redacted.pdf abusing the mother]. Here is an excerpt from the “The Lion’s Den” article published on the [https://mcmasterforcobb.com/why-matt mcmasterforcobb.com] website:

Did Governor Kemp have a choice? Recall that the applicable law states: "The Governor shall appoint each qualified applicant as a senior judge." All things considered, the pivotal issue is whether or not Flournoy was a "qualified applicant" at the time of his appointment. While reasonable minds may differ, there is strong argument to say that Judge Flournoy was not a qualified applicant and that Governor Kemp made an honest mistake in appointing Flournoy as a senior judge. Navigating Justice sent a request for comment to the Office of the Governor, Brian P. Kemp, on January 28, 2023 regarding these matters. No response from the Governor's Office has yet been provided.

The residual question remains: How will Governor Kemp address his error? Time will tell...

- Matthew D. McMaster

(2022, citing -Unknown-)

Jan 30, 2023

==References==