Justice David E. Nahmias was appointed to the Supreme Court of Georgia on August 13, 2009 by Governor Sonny Perdue. Prior to his appointment, Justice Nahmias (pronounced “NAH-mee-iss”) served as the United States Attorney in Atlanta from December 2004 until resigning to accept the appointment as a Justice. In November 2010, Justice Nahmias won a statewide campaign for election to a full 6-year term on the Court, winning 67% of the vote in the runoff after receiving more than one million votes, winning 151 counties, and receiving 48% of the vote against two opponents in the general election.
Justice Nahmias was born in Atlanta on September 11, 1964. He attended Briarcliff High School and was the state’s STAR student in 1982. He attended Duke University, where he graduated second in his class and summa cum laude in 1986, and Harvard Law School, where he graduated magna cum laude in 1991 and was an editor of the Harvard Law Review (along with President Barack Obama). Justice Nahmias then clerked for Judge Laurence H. Silberman of the U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Columbia and for Justice Antonin Scalia of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Shortly after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, Justice Nahmias returned to Washington and became one of the U.S. Justice Department’s leading terrorism prosecutors. As Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, he coordinated the investigation and prosecution of terrorist activity around the United States and in numerous foreign countries. He also assisted in counter-terrorism policymaking and served as a liaison to other federal agencies on terrorism-related issues. On August 1, 2003, Justice Nahmias was appointed Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division, responsible for supervision of the Counterterrorism Section; the Fraud Section, which handled policy and litigation matters including corporate, securities, and health care fraud cases and the Enron Task Force; the Appellate Section; and the Capital Case Unit.
On December 1, 2004, after being nominated by President George W. Bush and unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Justice Nahmias took office as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia. As the chief federal law enforcement officer for that judicial district, which encompasses 46 counties in Northwest Georgia, including metro Atlanta, he managed an office with approximately 80 lawyers who represented the United States in all criminal and civil litigation in federal court in the district.
As U.S. Attorney, Justice Nahmias supervised the prosecution of Eric Rudolph, securing his guilty plea in 2005 to all four bombings in exchange for life prison sentences with no chance of parole. In 2006, Justice Nahmias oversaw the case against former Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell, who was convicted of tax evasion charges and sentenced to 30 months in prison. Justice Nahmias also led the prosecution of three Atlanta Police narcotics officers who conspired to violate civil rights by falsifying search warrants, resulting in the police shooting death of 92-year old Kathryn Johnston in November 2006. That case led to significant reforms in the Atlanta Police Department. In addition, Justice Nahmias oversaw the firearms case against entertainer Clifford Harris (“T.I.”) and worked extensively on the first prosecutions in Georgia for providing material support to terrorism.
At the national level, Justice Nahmias was appointed by the U.S. Attorney General to serve on the Attorney General’s Advisory Committee of U.S. Attorneys (AGAC), which reviews and recommends policies for federal prosecutors nationwide. He also served as AGAC Vice-Chairman and as Chairman of the Terrorism and National Security and the White Collar Crime Subcommittees.
Justice Nahmias has received numerous local, state, and national awards and honors for his public service, including commendations from FBI Directors Louis Freeh (1999) and Robert Mueller (2001); the Justice Department’s national award for Superior Performance by an Assistant U.S. Attorney (2002); commendation by the Justice Department Criminal Division for strong leadership and outstanding service (2004); and the Common Cause of Georgia “Democracy Award” for work on public corruption cases (2007). He has been recognized by the Fulton County Daily Report as an “On the Rise” Georgia attorney (top lawyer under age 40) (2004) and by the Atlanta Business Chronicle as one of the 100 Most Influential Atlantans (2005-2009).
