The director of the state judicial watchdog agency is defending its constitutionality and disciplinary powers after its predecessor was abolished by constitutional amendment in 2016.

Ben Easterlin, a former King & Spalding partner who served for eight years as chairman of the Judicial Qualifications Commission before becoming its director last year, pushed back against former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes, who is defending Robert “Mack” Crawford against formal charges the Griffin Judicial Circuit Superior Court judge stole funds from a court registry in violation of the state Code of Judicial Conduct.