The Fulton County judge presiding over Fani Willis’s disqualification matter is promising to help rehab defendants as part of his re-election campaign.
Judge Scott McAfee, who is overseeing the sweeping RICO case against former President Donald Trump and his allies, is pledging to provide rehabilitation programs for non-violent offenders while vowing to hold violent offenders accountable as part of his platform.
“True justice isn’t about locking people up and throwing away the key,” McAfee’s campaign website reads. “I will work to provide a path forward for those who have made mistakes and have a desire to become productive members of our community.”
Qualifying week in Georgia began Monday as hundreds of candidates head to the Capitol to qualify for the state’s May 21 primaries, which is the same day that state voters will elect judges and other nonpartisan offices. McAfee will be on the ballot for the first time this year as he seeks re-election. Assuming office February 2023, he was first appointed as a Fulton County Superior Court judge by Governor Brian Kemp after his predecessor Christopher Brasher announced he would retire in December 2022.
In order to serve on the court, a judge must be a resident of Georgia for at least three years, be a resident of the circuit they represent, be admitted to practice law for at least seven years and at least 30 years old. Judges on the Georgia Superior Courts are elected to serve for four-year terms.
Prior to his seat on the bench, McAfee worked as a prosecutor and state inspector general, during which he was “responsible for investigating allegations of fraud, waste, and abuse in the Executive Branch of state government.” He also served as the assistant U.S. attorney in the Northern District of Georgia and as senior assistant district attorney in the Fulton County Atlanta Judicial Circuit.
At this time, it appears McAfee is the only candidate that has qualified for the state race, according to the Georgia Secretary of State’s website. Candidates have until noon Friday to sign up.
“On February 1, 2023, he was sworn in as Fulton County’s newest Superior Court Judge,” McAfee’s campaign website reads. “Scott is running for election in 2024 so that he can continue serving our community by clearing the COVID backlog, giving everyone their fair day in court, and keeping our community safe.”
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Recently, McAfee has been presiding over the hearings on the possible disqualification of District Attorney Fani Willis. The co-defendants in the Georgia election interference case are asking the judge to remove Willis and her office from the case, citing misconduct related to the prosecutor’s relationship with Nathan Wade.
Several co-defendants argue that there is a conflict of interest because Willis hired her boyfriend, Wade, to join the prosecution, and thus was improperly paying him with state funds that the couple then used to pay for vacations. Willis and Wade have maintained that their relationship did not begin until after Wade’s appointment to the Trump case.
The relationship was not publicized until co-defendant Michael Roman revealed so in a January court filing. The couple subsequently admitted to being romantically involved.
At the end of Friday’s closing arguments in the disqualification matter, McAfee said he would make a decision within the next two weeks.
While Trump’s attorneys told the judge they had multiple new witness testimonies that had just come to light that morning, but McAfee refused to admit them because the defense hadn’t had a chance to examine the evidence. He added that he does not need any more evidence to make his decision on whether or not to disqualify Willis from the case.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.