Harold Melton Sworn In As New Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice

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Harold Melton is sworn in as Georgia's new Chief Justice.

Georgia's new supreme court chief justice was sworn in Tuesday at the state capitol.

Harold Melton was appointed to the state’s supreme court in 2005 by then Gov. Sonny Perdue. Perdue introduced the new chief justice before he took the oath and credited him with avoiding make the court a polarizing branch of government.

Melton said that's a reflection of expectations from Georgia citizens and elected officials.

"I'm glad that within this state, they're looking at us to apply the law,” Melton said. “They're not asking us to impose individual viewpoints and we are holding ourselves to the public as that being our assignment."

He said this is somewhat represents the changing of the guard as he represents a younger generation of judges on the bench.

“There’s an energy level that’s really high right now,” Melton said. “There’s an interest in technology that’s really high right now. There’s an interest in healing communities and individual lives that’s really high right now. If we can capitalize on all of that, there’s really some good opportunities.”

Melton said he is also focused on making the court more efficient and helping restore faith in the judicial system.