Georgia governor signs bill that allows removal of district attorneys

The new law is widely believed to target Deborah Gonzalez, a Democrat who was elected the prosecutor in Athens-Clarke and Oconee counties in 2020. Gonzalez has adopted a number of criminal justice reforms, including not charging for simple possession of marijuana. She was also one of several district attorneys in Georgia who announced last year that she would not prosecute abortion-related crimes.

The bill comes as Republicans elsewhere have moved to remove elected progressive prosecutors from office. In Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis suspended Andrew Warren, a Democrat, after Warren said he would not enforce crimes around abortion and gender therapy. In St. Louis, Republicans were moving to oust Kim Gardner, the circuit attorney for St Louis county, before she announced she was resigning on Thursday.

Georgia lawmakers also previously passed a measure that allowed for a takeover of local election boards for poor performance. A panel reviewing the elections operations in Fulton county, the most populous in the state, recommended not taking over the board earlier this year.