WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. Senate has confirmed a Georgia Court of Appeals judge to an Atlanta-based federal appeals court.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports senators voted 73-23 on Tuesday to seat Judge Elizabeth Branch on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which sits one step below the Supreme Court. The 12-judge panel has jurisdiction over federal cases from Alabama, Florida and Georgia.
Branch was among judges who tossed a former grocery store employee’s invasion of privacy conviction over filming videos up a woman’s skirt while she shopped. Branch wrote in the 2016 opinion that Georgia’s laws did not account for crimes committed with “ever-advancing technology.”
Georgia Sen. Johnny Isakson and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell praised Branch’s qualifications during a debate on her nomination. None of those who voted no were Republican.
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