Summary
The Supreme Court of Georgia dismissed Robert L. Clark’s original petition for mandamus against Chief Justice Carol W. Hunstein. The Court held that mandamus does not lie against the Supreme Court of Georgia or its Justices and that a lower court cannot mandamus a higher court or its judges.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether the procedure established in Brown v. Johnson for mandamus petitions against superior court judges applied to an original mandamus petition against the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia.
- Whether a lower court in Georgia may issue mandamus against a higher court or its judges.
- Whether mandamus may be issued against the Supreme Court of Georgia or one of its justices.
Holdings
- The Brown procedure does not apply because Chief Justice Hunstein is not a superior court judge, and the court had never held that Brown governed an original mandamus petition against the Supreme Court or its justices.
- A lower court has no authority to mandamus a higher court or its judges in their official capacities.
- Mandamus does not lie against the Supreme Court of Georgia or its justices; Clark's original mandamus petition was therefore dismissed.
Key quotations
“Accordingly, we hold that in Georgia, a lower court has no authority to mandamus a higher court or its judges.” (650)
“Accordingly, we hold that mandamus does not lie against this Court or its Justices, and Clark’s original petition for mandamus against Chief Justice Hunstein is therefore dismissed.” (650)
Factual background
Robert L. Clark had a habeas corpus case pending in the Supreme Court of Georgia and sought a certificate of probable cause to appeal. He filed an original mandamus petition against Chief Justice Carol W. Hunstein, alleging that she had not ruled on his application. The Supreme Court considered whether it had authority to issue mandamus against itself or one of its justices.
Procedural history
Clark's petition was filed directly in the Supreme Court of Georgia. The court rejected the Attorney General's proposed disposition based on the Brown procedure for mandamus petitions against superior court judges, because Hunstein was a justice of the Supreme Court rather than a superior court judge. The court instead dismissed the original mandamus petition because mandamus does not lie against the Supreme Court or its justices.