By Greg Bluestein
ATLANTA – Georgia’s judicial branch long has fought to preserve its independence amid concerns that its counterparts in the Legislature or governor’s mansion are overstepping their bounds. Georgia’s top judges even threatened to go to court last year to block deep cuts to the judiciary ordered by Gov. Sonny Perdue.
But the latest threat to the judiciary isn’t in the form of sharp budget cuts but an obscure legal case that reached the Georgia Supreme Court on Tuesday about whether a court reporting company can dish out $25 gas cards as incentives to its employees.
Legal experts say the court’s decision on this technical matter can affect the state’s delicate separation of powers for decades to come. It even compelled former Georgia Chief Justice Norman Fletcher to warn the state’s top court not to underestimate the effect of the case.
Fletcher, in an amicus brief, said the case could have a “far-reaching, adverse effect on the independence of the judicial branch.”