Early Life

Michael Joseph Bowers (born 1942 in Commerce, Georgia

Commerce, Georgia

Commerce is a city in Jackson County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 6,544.-Geography:Commerce is located at ....

) was a long-serving Attorney General of Georgia

Attorney General of Georgia

The attorney general of Georgia is the chief law enforcement officer and lawyer for the U.S. state of Georgia. The attorney general is elected to a four-year term at the same time as elections are held for Governor and other offices....

 before switching parties and mounting an unsuccessful campaign for Georgia Governor. He now practices law with Balch & Bingham

Balch & Bingham

Balch & Bingham, LLP is a regional law firm based in Birmingham, Alabama. Founded in 1920, Balch & Bingham also has offices in Montgomery, Alabama, Atlanta, Georgia, Gulfport, Mississippi, Jackson, Mississippi and in Washington, D.C....

 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Bowers graduated from the United States Military Academy

United States Military Academy

The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...

 in 1963 and served in the United States Air Force

United States Air Force

The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

 from 1963-70. He earned a law degree from the University of Georgia

University of Georgia

The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...

 in 1974, and then worked as an assistant state attorney general until his appointment as Attorney General in 1981. He resigned in June 1997 to run for governor.

Attorney General

Bowers was known as a very active and fearless Attorney General. He did not come from a privileged background and his public service exhibited a populist flair. He vigorously opposed conflicts of interests by public officials and contractors that might undermine loyalty to the citizenry and the public's confidence in state government. For instance, despite fierce opposition from entrenched interests, Bowers was successful in convincing the courts that, due to an inherent conflict of interests, state legislators who were lawyers could not sue the state.

Corruption Fighter

Although the Georgia Attorney General has limited law enforcement authority, Bowers was also vocal in fighting crime. Bowers vigorously opposed public corruption. His targets included long-serving Georgia Labor Commissioner Sam Caldwell, whom he prosecuted for fraud. Bowers also prosecuted powerful highway construction companies for bid-rigging practices that were anti-competitive.

At the end of his tenure, one newspaper described Bowers' service as follows: "Unquestioned integrity and dedication to principles have been hallmarks of his administration, even though his unwillingness to compromise has angered politicians and constituents." Another well-known Georgia political commentator stated that in Bowers "we have come to expect an unconstrained, outspoken and active attorney general."

Affair

Bowers' political ambitions were derailed when, during his campaign for the 1998 Republican

Republican Party (United States)

The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...

 gubernatorial nomination, he admitted he had a decade-long extramarital affair with his secretary, a former Playboy Club

Playboy Club

The Playboy Club initially was a chain of nightclubs and resorts owned and operated by Playboy Enterprises. The first club opened at 116 E. Walton Street in downtown Chicago, Illinois, United States, on February 29, 1960. Each club generally featured a Living Room, a Playmate Bar, a Dining Room...

 waitress. Anne Davis stated the romance had been active as recently as six weeks prior to Bowers' June 5, 1997 announcement. Bowers went on to lose the 1998 Republican primary to Guy Millner

Guy Millner

Guy W. Millner is an American multi-millionaire businessman who ran as a Republican for governor of Georgia in 1994, United States Senator from Georgia in 1996 and Governor of Georgia in 1998, losing all three races....

, finishing with 39.92 percent of the vote compared with Millner's 50.38 percent.

Bowers vs Hardwick

Never one to shy from controversy, Bowers fulfilled the duties of his office by defending the constitutionality of a Georgia criminal sodomy statute in a test case brought by the ACLU. The Plaintiff was Michael Hardwick, who had been arrested by the Atlanta Police Department on several charges, including violation of the state sodomy statute. Hardwick was not prosecuted for the sodomy charge, but the courts ruled that he nevertheless had standing to challenge the constitutionality of the statute. The United States Supreme Court upheld the statute in Bowers v. Hardwick

Bowers v. Hardwick

Bowers v. Hardwick, , is a United States Supreme Court decision that upheld, in a 5-4 ruling, the constitutionality of a Georgia sodomy law criminalizing oral and anal sex in private between consenting adults when applied to homosexuals. Seventeen years after Bowers v. Hardwick, the Supreme Court...

(1986). The Georgia statute that Michael Hardwick had challenged was overturned by the Georgia Supreme Court in a subsequent case in 1998. The U.S. Supreme Court later essentially overturned its Bowers ruling in a 2003 decision, Lawrence v. Texas

Lawrence v. Texas

Lawrence v. Texas, 539 U.S. 558 , is a landmark United States Supreme Court case. In the 6-3 ruling, the Court struck down the sodomy law in Texas and, by proxy, invalidated sodomy laws in the thirteen other states where they remained in existence, thereby making same-sex sexual activity legal in...

. However, during Bowers' tenure as Attorney General, the Georgia law remained on the books and legally enforceable.

Shahar v. Bowers

Bowers faced controversy again in 1991 when he rescinded a hiring offer to a lesbian

Lesbian

Lesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...

, Robin Shahar, for an assistant attorney general position because she had stated in her job application that she was planning to marry another woman (which was forbidden by state law). Shahar sued Bowers, but the courts ruled that Bowers had not violated her constitutional rights in rescinding the job offer.

Private Practice

Since leaving public office, Bowers has achieved remarkable success in his private law practice. In one notable case, he successfully sued Fulton County, Georgia for discrimination against several library employees who were given job reassignments because of their race. Bowers recovered one of the largest verdicts in Georgia legal history. And Bowers led the merger of his Atlanta-based firm into the larger Alabama-based firm of Balch & Bingham.

External links

• Balch & Bingham profile