Abortion, Kemp become central issues in Pinson-Barrow Supreme Court race

COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL) — There is an interesting political race shaping up for a seat on the Georgia’s highest court.

Former Congressman John Barrow is challenging Justice Andrew Pinson for a seat on Supreme Court.

It’s a non-partisan race that has turned partisan over endorsements and abortion.

Pinson is 38 years old and was appointed to the bench two years ago by Gov. Brian Kemp. Barrow is 30 years his senior and has been a practicing attorney for 45 years.

Georgia law bans abortions after the detection of a fetal heartbeat – usually about six weeks.

John Barrow favors a woman’s right to chose and has made it the centerpiece of his Supreme Court campaign. Justice Andrew Pinson cites the Judicial Cannon of Ethics as a reason he must chose his words on the subject – which could likely appear as a question for the high court.

The commission that oversees judges says it’s not appropriate for judges or candidates to express views on the subject. Barrow has taken the matter to federal court and is continuing to run pro-choice ads.

“My opponent, rather, he’s taking the Fifth,” Barrow said. “He’s not only saying that  Barrow can’t talk about his opinions, I shouldn’t talk about them either. We both are supposed to take the Fifth on this. Well, he’s just wrong about that. He has the right  to remain silent if he wants to,  because whatever he says can and will be taken down against him. But he also has the right to speak because the public has the right to hear what he has to say. Now, if you don’t want to say nothing, that’s fine. He can he can plead the Fifth.  But I think it’s important for the voters to know what they’re voting for. This issue of reproductive freedom is one that the U.S. Supreme Court has handed over to the states  after half a century in which the federal courts have preempted the bill. So, it doesn’t matter what your state constitution is, We’re telling you what the rules are.  Now, they’ve handed over to the states for the people to decide for themselves.  And if the people have the right to choose the folks who go to interpret the Constitution, they also get a right to decide what their rights are.”

Pinson choses his words more carefully, citing the Judicial Code of Conduct.

“Think about it, if you were a litigant in a particular case, you’re about to go to court next weekend you hear someone on the news say, oh, ‘I’m going to rule in this other person’s favor on this case because I believe strongly about this one thing or another,’” Pinson said. “How would you feel as a litigant going to court next week about the court system and your chance at justice? You’d feel like you didn’t have any. Right? And, so, I think that’s why we have not only an oath as judges to  approach cases with an open mind and impartially,  but we have a code of judicial conduct  that says  judges and judicial candidates  cannot speak about  or they cannot make commitments about issues or cases that could come before the court. Judges, in fact, have even stronger language that says that we cannot even comment about cases that that are could come before the court.”

Here’s what the two men have to say about experience and how it plays into this race.

“There is no contest between the experience that I bring to the bench as compared to what he brings,” Barrow said. “First off, your experience on the bench is very limiting in terms of your contribution to the group because you hear the same cases, see the same lawyers, hear the same arguments. The real benefit that you bring to a court that has multiple members is the life experience that you had before you went on the court. That’s the only reason for having more than one person on a court is to bring more perspectives and more experiences to bear on deciding the issues that the court has to decide.  And so, given that approach, that is no contest.  My opponent has never tried a case to a jury in his life.  I’ve tried cases to juries in courtrooms all over the state of Georgia.”

Pinson says he has a different take on experience.

“I will tell you that that experience that I have had not only as a judge, but I have already served in this role for a couple of years, have been on the bench for three years,” Pinson said. “I have had more than 80 published opinions have received national acclaim for my work, both as a judge and as a lawyer.  If you add to that my public service, both as solicitor general for the State leading the state’s appellate practice, arguing in front of the Georgia Supreme Court, the U.S. Supreme Court courts across the country, and then my work in private practice. All of that together has been focused on and directed entirely to doing the precise job that I do now.”

Kemp has now stepped into this race in a major way. The Governor’s political committee is reportedly spending $500,000 dollars in support of Pinson.

Here’s what the two candidates say about the governor jumping into a non-partisan race.

“If he weren’t supporting me, I would be worried, Right?” Pinson said. “That if he if he chose me twice to serve on the Court of Appeals in the Supreme Court, what it tells me is that  he has seen that I’m doing this job the right way. That I am  upholding the oath that I took in front of him when I was sworn in  to approach every case with an open mind  and again, to rule fairly, impartially, without fear or favor.”

Here’s Barrow’s take on the governor’s involvement.
“He has the absolute right to get involved,” Barrow said. “It does kind of undercut my opponent’s message that partisan politics should have nothing to do with the election of judges. So, that’s why you have partisan politicians weighing in in judicial elections that are supposed to be nonpartisan in order to be able to influence the outcome of the election.”

Early advance voting for this and other races in the Georgia primary ends Friday. Election day is Tuesday. The Supreme Court race is on the non-partisan ballot and Republicans and Democrats can cast votes in this race.

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