6 on governor’s short list for 2 vacant Fayette judgeships

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Six local judges and attorneys have made the final list of nominees for the two Superior Court vacancies in the Griffin Judicial Circuit, which includes Fayette County. The judges on the list are

Fayette State Court Judge Fletcher Sams, Griffin Circuit Juvenile Court Judge Ben J. Miller Jr. and Fayette County Magistrate Robert A. Ruppenthal.

Attorneys on the list include Robert “Mack” Crawford, director of the Georgia Public Defender Standards Council, Carla W. McMillian, a partner in the Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan law firm and sole practitioner James R. Westbury.

The final selections for the two vacancies will be filled by appointment of Gov. Sonny Perdue.

The vacancies on the court were created by the sudden resignations more than a month ago of Chief Superior Court Judge Paschal A. English Jr. and Superior Court Judge Johnnie L. Caldwell Jr. Caldwell soon after admitted that he made inappropriate remarks to female attorneys and it was recently revealed that English had been involved in an affair with a defense attorney from the Fayette County Public Defender’s office.