GEORGIA (AP) – Four district attorneys in Georgia, including Augusta’s DA Jared Williams, are asking a judge to strike down a law creating a commission to discipline and remove prosecutors, arguing it violates the U.S. and Georgia constitutions.

The lawsuit filed Wednesday in Atlanta comes after Republicans pushed through a law creating the panel earlier this year.

Republican Gov. Brian Kemp has said the law will curb “far-left prosecutors” who are “making our communities less safe.”

But opponents say the law illegally removes the discretion of prosecutors to decide which cases to try.

The legal dispute is part of a national fight over how punitive prosecutors should be.

Augusta District Attorney Jared Williams released the following statement:

I am suing to protect the voices of voters in our circuit. I am suing to ensure prosecutors can do their jobs without fear of reprisal from those with political agendas. I am suing because I swore
to uphold the constitution, and this law violates it.

I am a prosecutor. I represent the State of Georgia, and the citizens of Burke and Richmond
counties. I don’t back down from bad criminals who hurt people; I certainly won’t back down
from bad law and harmful policy.

Jared T. Williams
District Attorney
Augusta Judicial Circuit