Atlanta, February 24, 2020 – Chief Justice Harold D. Melton will deliver his second State of the Judiciary address to a joint session of the Legislature this coming Wednesday, February 26, 2020 at 11 a.m. in the House Chamber of the Georgia State Capitol.
The annual speech is an opportunity to update the legislative branch on the judicial branch by showcasing recent work and highlighting the challenges that remain. Among those challenges, Chief Justice Melton will speak about access to justice and a promising new way some Georgia courts are addressing it. He will talk about cybersecurity and what needs to be done to safeguard the judicial branch from cyberattacks, such as the ransomware attack last summer on the Administrative Office of the Courts. And he will applaud Governor Brian Kemp for his leadership in the creation of a behavioral health commission that, among other things, will identify ways that mental health problems too often lead people into the criminal justice system.
With the recent move of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals into a new building that is designed to last 100 years, Chief Justice Melton will thank the legislative and executive branches for their support of the judicial branch. And he will reflect on the changes that have occurred since 1956, when the Supreme Court held its first session in the old building on Mitchell Street. “We are a different court now than when our court first convened in the building we have left behind,” he will say. “We are a different state.”
Media will receive an embargoed copy of the speech at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday. The speech will be live streamed at https://www.gpb.org/lawmakers/2020/state-of-the-judiciary. Media interested in obtaining a copy of the address should contact the Audience Care Team at Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) to request a DVD. Please e-mail your request ask@gpb.org.