Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael Boggs delivered his State of the Judiciary Tuesday.
"I’m proud to report that the state of Georgia’s judiciary is strong.”
His address covered a range of topics including the need for enhancing security measures and training due to increasing threats against judges.
“For the last several years we’ve all noticed an alarming increase in attacks on our courts,” according to Boggs. “Both attacks on decisions and even physical attacks on judges. It seems that our entire system of justice, a bedrock of our democracy, is under attack.”
The Chief Justice also discussed plans to combat the shortage of court reporters.
“The consequences are very real because of delayed hearings in trial courts, delayed appeals to our appellate courts, and delayed closure for victims of crime,” Boggs said. “Now the judicial council is coming to you with a balanced proposal that will give trial judges the option of having many, but not all, court proceedings taken down by a digital recording system. This proposal places no mandate on trial judges to use digital recording, but it does give them the much-needed option in order to reduce the amount of time it takes to get necessary records.”
He remarked on dangers and opportunities presented by AI, legal deserts in the state, improving court data, ending partisan judgeships, and increasing pay. There are nearly 1600 judges in Georgia.
