As Georgia Supreme Court Justice Harold Melton becomes presiding justice in a ceremony Friday, he also signifies a coming of age for the high court’s younger generation.
Melton, a former assistant attorney general and governor’s executive counsel, will serve beside his elder, new Chief Justice P. Harris Hines. The difference between their ages—and their bar admission dates—is 23 years. Hines is 73, the same age as his predecessor, retiring Chief Justice Hugh Thompson. Melton is 50–younger than Hines was when he joined the court in 1995.
