Another Georgia Judge Defending Her Social Media Posts As Compliant with Judicial Canons
The Judicial Canons and social media are once again the focus of judicial woes in Georgia. On July 22, the Georgia Judicial Qualifications Commission (JQC) filed formal charges against Douglas County Probate Judge Christina Peterson, accusing the Judge of four counts of violating the Georgia Code of Judicial Conduct with certain social media posts all made while Peterson was a judge-elect who had not yet been sworn into the office of Probate Judge.
The Complaint cites to several of the Judge’s Instagram posts, including a post from August 26, 2020, where she “posted a picture of herself wearing a ‘birthday girl’ tiara and a dress while sitting in a lounge/bar/club” and captioned the photo to include her CashApp username. The Complaint also sites to two posts where the Judge advertises events “using her judicial status as part of the advertisement” by including the term “judge elect” in the captions, and to a video Judge Peterson posted on Twitter “where she discusses ‘homeless-sexuals,’ and makes inappropriate sexual commentary.”
The JQC stated the “birthday cash app” post had been posted on her private Instagram page but realized that someone had posted the Instagram post on a Douglas County citizen group on Facebook.
In the Complaint, the JQC accuses Judge Peterson of violating several Rules of the Georgia Code of Judicial Conduct, including judicial canon 1.2(A), which holds that “[j]udges shall act at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the independence, integrity, and impartiality of the judiciary” and judicial canon 3.1(A), which requires that “[j]udges shall not engage in extra-judicial activities that detract from the dignity of their office or interfere with the performance of their judicial duties.”
In her Answer, Judge Peterson argued that the social media posts she made are protected by the First Amendment, citing to Republican Party of Minnesota v. White in support, a 2002 Supreme Court opinion that “held that judicial officers and judicial candidates do not lose the right to free speech by holding or seeking judicial office.” Notably, the case was also cited to by Superior Court Judge David Cannon, the Cherokee County, Georgia judge who came under fire for his own Facebook posts earlier this year, and against whom the JQC also filed formal charges for violating the judicial canons in his use of social media. Both Cannon and Peterson are represented by S. Lester Tate of Akin & Tate PC.
Peterson went on to contend that the Georgia JQC “has exceeded and abused its authority and violated Respondent’s constitutional rights by applying other provisions of the Code of Judicial Conduct in such a way as to suppress, impede, and chill respondent’s free speech rights.” Judge Peterson’s case will soon go before the Hearing Panel of the JQC, which will recommend that the Supreme Court of Georgia either sanction Peterson or dismiss the case.
