Tipsheet

A Judge Barred Release of GA Supreme Court Candidates' Misconduct Allegations. Here's Why It's a Problem.

Amy Curtis
Amy Curtis  |  May 19, 2026 7:30 AM

The Georgia Supreme Court race could flip the state's highest court from a 9-0 conservative majority to a 5-4 liberal majority in the next couple of years. That's why it's imperative that voters are fully informed about the candidates. As we told you yesterday, the Jon Ossoff-endorsed Jen Jordan opposes voter ID and has a record of being soft on crime and anti-police.

Now, a judge has barred the release of a disclosure from a Georgia judicial panel implicating both Jen Jordan and another Democrat-backed Supreme Court candidate, Miracle Rankin, of misconduct. Rankin and Jordan violated judicial conduct rules after campaigning together and appearing at reproductive rights events.

Here's more:

A federal judge in Georgia barred a state judicial committee from publicly commenting on judicial conduct rule violations the panel says two Democratic-backed state Supreme Court candidates committed ahead of Tuesday’s election.

U.S. District Judge Leslie Gardner, issuing a temporary restraining order, ruled on Monday that the special committee convened by the Judicial Qualifications Commission (JQC) of Georgia was not allowed to issue a Sunday statement accusing Miracle Rankin and Jen Jordan of violating judicial conduct rules after campaigning together and appearing at reproductive rights events.

The JQC panel, which is tasked with reviewing judicial misconduct complaints, issued statements over the weekend accusing the two candidates, who are both endorsed by high-profile Democrats, of violating Georgia code barring judicial candidates from supporting one another in elections.

The committee also found that the duo violated another rule, which states that candidates cannot make commitments or pledges on issues that might come before the court, after they both appeared at events supporting reproductive rights and conveyed that they would “restore abortion rights” if elected.

In her ruling, Judge Gardner wrote that Rankin and Jordan were protected by the First Amendment. "Accordingly, Plaintiffs’ speech regarding ‘reproductive rights,’ abortion, or having endorsements or support from pro-choice platforms, ‘EMILYs LIST’, or other organizations (not directly representing a political party) is protected by the First Amendment. Here, none of the language cited by Defendants in the JQC Letters contain explicit pledges," it read. Gardner also said Rankin and Jordan would suffer 'immediate and irreparable' injury from this information.

OF course they would. Voters deserve to know if their judges are going to break judicial conduct rules. If they do that while campaigning, they'll do that while they're on the bench.

It turns out Judge Gardner is related to Stacey Abrams, the notorious Georgia Democrat who keeps trying, and failing, to win office in the state.

They buried the lede.

They did mention it in the article, but several paragraphs down and long after most people would stop reading.

Voters benefit from disclosing the misconduct, which is why the judge blocked it.

That's correct. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued an emergency order that blocked Gardner's ruling. This means the panel's disclosure could be released ahead of the election.

Voters have a right to know where their Supreme Court justices stand on the issues and if they are willing to flout the rules in the pursuit of their political agendas. It's indicative of how they'd rule from the bench, and Georgia cannot let Rankin or Jordan ascend to the state's highest court.