Thurbert Baker

Thurbert Baker
52nd Georgia Attorney General
In office June 1, 1997 – January 10, 2011
Governor	Zell Miller (1997-1999) Roy Barnes (1999-2003) Sonny Perdue (2003-2011)
Preceded by	Mike Bowers
Succeeded by	Sam Olens
Personal details
Born	December 16, 1952 (1952-12-16) Rocky Mount, North Carolina
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Catherine Baker
Alma mater	Emory University School of Law (J.D.) University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (B.A.)
Religion	Baptist

Thurbert E. Baker (born December 16, 1952) was the Attorney General of the U.S. state of Georgia, serving from 1997, when he was appointed by Governor Zell Miller. until January 10, 2011.

Baker was elected to his position three times as a Democrat, most recently winning the 2006 general election against Republican Perry McGuire, a former State Senator and corporate counsel for Chick-fil-A, 57.2% to 42.8%. Baker carried 122 of Georgia's 159 counties, and he received more votes and a higher percentage than any other Georgia Democrat running statewide in 2006.

Legislature

Baker served in the Georgia House of Representatives (1989 to 1997), and from 1993 until his appointment as Attorney General, he was the Miller Administration's House Floor Leader. During his legislative tenure, Baker sponsored several pieces of significant legislation, including the HOPE Scholarship and the "Two Strikes and You're Out" law that puts the worst repeat violent felons in prison for life without parole.

Attorney general

Baker served as the President of the National Association of Attorneys General from 2006 to 2007. As Attorney General, Baker has focused on initiatives to fight crime and fraud, including stronger laws against sexual predators who use the Internet to target children, a new law against financial identity theft, and stronger laws against residential mortgage fraud. He has also advocated for the abolition of parole for persons convicted of violent crimes, which the Georgia General Assembly has not enacted.

In 2003, Baker and Governor Sonny Perdue clashed in court, with both claiming the right to control the state's legal affairs. The controversy arose when Perdue ordered Baker to drop an appeal of a case involving a legal challenge to a legislative redistricting map drawn by a 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.

In 2010, Perdue and Baker clashed again when Perdue asked Baker to sue the federal government over the passage of the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Baker declined, arguing that he saw no legal basis for the suit, believed it will ultimately fail, and decrying it as a "frivilous waste of taxpayer money". In response, Perdue appointed a "special" Attorney General for that purpose. Some Republican state lawmakers have subsequently introduced legislation to impeach Baker for his refusal.

2010 Campaign

Baker filed paperwork in 2009 to become a candidate in the 2010 Georgia gubernatorial election. He was defeated in the Democratic primary on July 20, 2010 by former Gov. Roy Barnes.

Education

• J.D., Emory University School of Law, 1979
• Bachelor of Arts, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1975

Personal

Baker, who has lived in Georgia since moving to the state to practice law in the 1970s, was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina in 1952. He grew up there with Mike Easley, the former Governor and former Attorney General of North Carolina, Roy Cooper, the current Attorney General of North Carolina, and Gregory O. Griffin, the current Chief Legal Counsel for the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles. While attending the University of North Carolina, Baker was on the fencing team, and won the 1975 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) individual sabre championship. In 2002, the ACC recognized him as one of the best fencers in its history, naming him to its 50th anniversary fencing team.

Baker and his wife, Catherine, an educator, reside in the Atlanta suburb of Stone Mountain. They have two daughters. He is a practicing Baptist and a member of Omega Psi Phi fraternity.

External links

• CNN Story about the Genarlow Wilson Case
• Official site

Legal offices
Preceded by Mike Bowers	Georgia Attorney General 1997-2011	Succeeded by Sam Olens