One of the newest judges on the Fulton County Superior Court bench, Scott McAfee, has been assigned the sprawling racketeering case that charges former president Donald Trump and 18 allies with scheming to undo Trump’s 2020 election defeat in Georgia and elsewhere.
McAfee, a lifelong Georgian who lives in Atlanta, was nominated to fill a vacancy on the bench earlier this year by Gov. Brian Kemp (R), who had previously praised McAfee as “a tough prosecutor” who could “bring those to justice who break the law.”
McAfee has worked off and on in the public realm for more than a decade, including eight years as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Justice Department in the Northern District of Georgia, where he prosecuted drug trafficking organizations, fraud and illegal firearms possession, according to a March 2021 news release from Kemp’s office. McAfee also worked on the state level as an assistant district attorney in Fulton County, where he handled many felony cases, from armed robbery to murder, the news release said.
Before he became a judge, McAfee served as the Georgia inspector general under Kemp, investigating claims of fraud, waste and abuse in the executive branch of state government.
As a judge, he has previously allowed video of court proceedings to air online, including on a YouTube channel that bears his name and title. He speaks to attorneys and defendants with a hint of a Southern drawl, the channel shows, and an American flag stands behind his chair on an elevated bench.
A father of two, McAfee earned his law degree from the University of Georgia. He plays the cello and majored in music as an undergraduate at Emory University in Atlanta.
McAfee is running for election to a full four-year term in 2024, according to his campaign website. Judicial elections in Georgia are nonpartisan. McAfee’s priorities include clearing a backlog of cases that piled up during the pandemic and holding violent offenders accountable.
“I look forward to continuing my service as your Fulton Superior Court Judge, delivering timely justice for all,” his website said.
