Firm Wins Appeal Against Chatham County Probate Judge

John Monroe Law, P.C. won a case in the Court of Appeals of Georgia against Thomas C. Bordeaux, Jr., the judge of the Probate Court of Chatham County. In the case, Firm clients sued Bordeaux for grossly exceeding the time required to issue weapons carry licenses. The Superior Court of Chatham County ruled, among other things, that a declaratory judgment against against a probate judge is barred by judicial immunity. The Court of Appeals reversed, holding that judicial immunity only bars claims for damages.

Firm Wins Case Against Chatham County Probate Judge

John Monroe Law, P.C. won a case in the Superior Court of Chatham County against Thomas C. Bordeaux, Jr., the judge of the Probate Court of Chatham County. Bordeaux had denied the firm’s client a weapons carry license based solely on a misdemeanor assault conviction in another state in the 1970s. There is nothing in the record indicating that the assault qualified as a “misdemeanor crime of domestic violence,” which under federal law would prohibit the client from possessing firearms. The Superior Court ruled that, because the criteria for obtaining a license are “listed in the negative,” meaning an applicant is deemed eligible for a license unless he meets one of the “prohibitors” on the list, the client was eligible and it was error for Bordeaux to deny the application. The Superior Court gave the client an opportunity to file a motion for attorney’s fees, as provided for by statute.

Supreme Court Restores Botanical Garden Case

The Supreme Court of Georgia has restored a firm case against the Atlanta Botanical Garden that was orally argued in May 2019. The firm brought the case on behalf of GeorgiaCarry.Org, Inc. and Phillip Evans, challenging a policy of the Garden of banning firearms at its premises. The Court of Appeals earlier had affirmed the dismissal of the case by the Superior Court of Fulton County. The Supreme Court reversed, unanimously ruling that the case should not have been dismissed and that the Garden failed to prove that it had an estate in the land that qualified it as “private property.” The case now moves back to the lower courts for consideration of whether the Garden may continue its policy of banning guns.