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Georgia Supreme Court removes Judge Christina Peterson over ethics

 

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s highest court on Tuesday ordered the removal of an embattled county probate judge over ethics charges brought by the state’s judicial watchdog agency.

The Georgia Supreme Court issued an opinion removing Douglas County Probate Judge Christina Peterson from office, effective immediately, and prohibiting her from holding any judicial office in the state for seven years. The high court noted that the Judicial Qualifications Commission found that Peterson “exhibited a pattern of judicial misconduct while in office.”

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Peterson, 38, was sworn in as probate judge in December 2020, after winning a contested Democratic primary that year and running unopposed in the November general election. She lost the Democratic primary last month in her bid for reelection. Peterson has been plagued by ethics charges for much of her tenure and, last week, was arrested after she was accused of pushing a police officer during an early-morning scuffle at an Atlanta nightclub.