Thurbert Baker
| Thurbert Baker | |
|---|---|
| 46th Attorney General of Georgia | |
|
In office June 1, 1997 – January 10, 2011 |
|
| Governor |
Zell Miller Roy Barnes Sonny Perdue |
| Preceded by | Mike Bowers |
| Succeeded by | Sam Olens |
| Member of the Georgia House of Representatives from the 70th district |
|
|
In office January 11, 1993 – June 1, 1997 |
|
| Preceded by | John T. Simpson |
| Succeeded by | Stan Watson |
| Member of the Georgia House of Representatives from the 51st district |
|
|
In office January 9, 1989 – January 11, 1993 |
|
| Preceded by | Ken Workman |
| Succeeded by | Billy McKinney |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
December 16, 1952 Rocky Mount, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse(s) | Catherine Baker |
| Alma mater |
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Emory University |
Thurbert E. Baker (born December 16, 1952) was the Attorney General of the U.S. state of Georgia. He was appointed to that position in 1997 by Governor Zell Miller and served until January 10, 2011.
Baker was elected to his position three times as a Democrat. In the 2006 general election, Baker received more votes and a higher percentage than any other Georgia Democrat running statewide.
Baker served in the Georgia House of Representatives from 1989 to 1997. From 1993, until his appointment as Attorney General, he was the Miller Administration's House Floor Leader. During his legislative tenure, Baker sponsored several significant legislative initiatives. Chief among those were the HOPE Scholarship and the "Two Strikes and You're Out" law, designed to put the worst repeat violent felons in prison for life without parole.
Baker served as the President of the National Association of Attorneys General from 2006 to 2007. As Attorney General, Baker focused on initiatives to fight crime and fraud, including stronger laws against sexual predators who use the Internet to target children, laws against financial identity theft, and stronger laws against residential mortgage fraud. He also advocated for the abolition of parole for persons convicted of violent crimes, which the Georgia General Assembly did not enact.
In 2003, Baker and Governor Sonny Perdue clashed in court, with both claiming the right to control the state's legal affairs. The controversy involved gerrymandering, and arose when Perdue ordered Baker to drop an appeal of a case involving a legal challenge to a legislative redistricting map drawn by the Democratic legislative majority and signed into law by Perdue's Democratic predecessor, Roy Barnes. When Baker refused to drop the appeal, Perdue sued him. The Supreme Court of Georgia ultimately sided with Baker, ruling 5-2 that the Attorney General, as an elected constitutional officer, is independent of the Governor and has the power to control the state government's legal affairs.
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