Mike Bowers

{{Short description|Attorney General of Georgia from 1981 to 1997}} {{Use American English|date=November 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2025}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Mike Bowers | image = Mike Bowers.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = | order = | office = 45th Attorney General of Georgia | term_start = 1981 | term_end = 1997 | governor = George Busbee<br>Joe Frank Harris<br>Zell Miller | deputy = | lieutenant = | predecessor = Arthur K. Bolton | successor = Thurbert E. Baker | prior_term = | birth_name = Michael Joseph Bowers | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1941|10|7}} | birth_place = Commerce, Georgia, U.S. | death_date =  | death_place = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | citizenship = | party = Republican (after 1994)<br>Democratic (before 1994) | height =  | spouse = Betty Rose | partner =  | relations = | children = | parents =  | relatives = | education = {{plainlist| *United States Military Academy (BS) *Stanford University (MS) *University of Utah (MBA) *University of Georgia (JD)}} | occupation = Lawyer | profession = | known_for = | cabinet = | committees = | portfolio = | awards =  }} '''Michael Joseph Bowers''' (born October 7, 1941)<ref name=register>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cNeqibq2y1EC&pg=PA734 |chapter=Class of 1963—Register of Graduates |title=Register of Graduates and Former Cadets 1802–1971 of the United States Military Academy |date=1971 |page=734 |publisher=The West Point Alumni Foundation Inc |access-date=2022-04-21}}</ref> is an American lawyer and politician who served as the Attorney General of Georgia from 1981 to 1997<ref>{{Cite web|title = RBRL/220/ROGP.027|url = http://russelldoc.galib.uga.edu/russell/view?docId=ead/RBRL220ROGP.027-ead.xml|website = russelldoc.galib.uga.edu|accessdate = 2015-12-21}}</ref> before mounting an unsuccessful campaign for Georgia Governor. Bowers was a Democrat through 1994, at which time he joined the Republican Party. Bowers has practiced law with Balch & Bingham in Atlanta. He now practices law at Johnson Marlowe LLP in Athens, Georgia.

==Early life== Bowers was born in Commerce, Georgia.<ref>Kathey Alexander & Bill Montgomery, "The Bowers Disclosure Damage Control", ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'', June 7, 1997.</ref> He graduated from the United States Military Academy with a B.S. degree in 1963 and served in the United States Air Force from 1963 to 1970. Bowers received an M.S. degree in industrial engineering from Stanford University in 1965 and an M.B.A. from the University of Utah in 1970.<ref name=register/><ref name=NGB/> He joined the Georgia Air National Guard on September 19, 1970 and earned his J.D. degree from the University of Georgia in 1974,<ref name=NGB/> and then worked as an assistant state attorney general until his appointment as attorney general in 1981. Running as the incumbent attorney general on the Democratic ticket, he was elected in his own right in 1982. He was re-elected in 1986 and 1990. In early 1994, he quit the Democratic Party to become a Republican, and won re-election again later that year. Bowers resigned as attorney general in June 1997 to run for the Republican nomination for governor in 1998. He also retired from military service on August 31, 1997 with the rank of major general.<ref name=NGB>{{cite web |url=https://www.nationalguard.mil/Leadership/Joint-Staff/Special-Staff/Senior-Leader-Management-Office/General-Officer-Management/bio-show/449/ |title=Major General Michael J. Bowers |date=February 2001 |publisher=National Guard Bureau |access-date=2022-04-21}}</ref>

==Attorney General== Bowers was known as a very active attorney general. He did not come from a privileged background and his public service exhibited a populist flair.<ref>Adele Brinkley, "Bowers sets forth his ideas for Georgia," ''Henry Herald'', February 7, 1997 (in a political speech, Bowers stated that he was the grandson of a sharecropper who bled to death from lack of medical care and that his dad was a truck driver).</ref> He vigorously opposed conflicts of interest 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 interest, state legislators who were lawyers could not sue the state.<ref>Georgia Dept. of Human Resources v. Sistrunk, 249 Ga. 543 (1982).</ref>

==Corruption fighter== Bowers vigorously opposed public corruption. His targets included long-serving Georgia Labor Commissioner Sam Caldwell, whom he prosecuted for fraud.<ref>Caldwell v. State, 171 Ga. App. 680 (1984); "Convicted Georgia Aide Vows to Oust Witness", ''New York Times'', April 28, 1984; "Sam Caldwell, Ex-Labor Commish Dies," AP Online, March 4, 2001 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102155459/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-42528812.html |date=2012-11-02 }}.</ref> Bowers also prosecuted powerful highway construction companies for bid-rigging practices that were anti-competitive.<ref>State v. Shepherd Const. Co., 248 Ga. 1 (1981).</ref>

At the end of his tenure, one newspaper described Bowers's 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."<ref>"Bowers Action sets example and creates opportunity for others," ''Athens Daily News'', May 6, 1997.</ref> Another well-known Georgia political commentator stated that in Bowers "we have come to expect an unconstrained, outspoken and active attorney general."<ref>Bill Shipp, "Test time for new Att. Gen.," ''Marietta Daily Journal'', May 28, 1997.</ref>

==Affair== Bowers's political ambitions were derailed when, during his campaign for the 1998 Republican gubernatorial nomination, he admitted to a decade-long extramarital affair with his employee and secretary, a former Playboy Club waitress. The woman, Anne Davis, stated that the romance had been active as recently as six weeks prior to Bowers's June 5, 1997, announcement.<ref>[http://ourgeorgiahistory.com/chronpop/978 Our Georgia History]</ref> Bowers went on to lose the 1998 Republican primary to Guy Millner, finishing with 39.92 percent of the vote compared with Millner's 50.38 percent.<ref>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9402EEDC1438F93AA15754C0A96E958260 "National News Briefs; Republican Concedes in Georgia Primary"], ''The New York Times'', July 29, 1998.</ref>

==''Bowers v. Hardwick''== Bowers controversially performed 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, a man who had been arrested by the Atlanta Police Department on charges including violation of the state sodomy statute. (Hardwick had engaged in consensual sex in the privacy of his own home.) The relevant county district attorney refused to prosecute the case, but the courts ruled that Hardwick nevertheless had standing to challenge the constitutionality of the statute. The United States Supreme Court upheld the statute in ''Bowers v. Hardwick'' (1986).<ref>478 U.S. 186 (1983).</ref> The Georgia statute that Michael Hardwick had challenged was overturned by the Georgia Supreme Court in a subsequent case in 1998.<ref>Powell v. State, 270 Ga. 327 (1998).</ref> The U.S. Supreme Court later overturned its ''Bowers'' ruling in a 2003 decision, ''Lawrence v. Texas'',<ref>539 U.S. 558 (2003),</ref> in which it stated that "''Bowers'' was not correct when it was decided, and it is not correct today." Bowers has declined further comment on the case, saying "I did my job as best I knew how, and reasonable people can disagree about it, but that's all I want to say about it now."<ref>{{cite news|last=Douglas-Brown|first=Laura|title=Bowers v Hardwick at 15|url=http://www.glapn.org/sodomylaws/bowers/bonews06.htm|accessdate=11 July 2012|newspaper=Southern Voice|date=12 July 2001}}</ref>

==''Shahar v. Bowers''== Bowers faced controversy again in 1991 when he rescinded a hiring offer to a lesbian, Robin Shahar, for an assistant attorney general position because she had stated that she planned to participate in a religious ceremony of which Bowers did not approve: Shahar was planning a same-sex marriage ceremony with the blessing of her Jewish faith.<ref>{{cite news|last=Lewin|first=Tamar|title=Judge Affirms Suit by Lesbian Over Withdrawal of Job Offer|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/11/us/judge-affirms-suit-by-lesbian-over-withdrawal-of-job-offer.html|accessdate=11 July 2012|newspaper=New York Times|date=11 Mar 1992}}</ref> Bowers claimed that Shahar's sexual orientation would prevent her from enforcing the state's sodomy law. Shahar sued Bowers, but the courts ruled that Bowers had not violated her constitutional rights in rescinding the job offer.<ref>Shahar v. Bowers, 114 F.3d 1097 (11th Cir. 1997).</ref>

==Private practice== Since leaving public office, Bowers has entered private practice. In one notable case, he successfully sued Fulton County, Georgia for "reverse" discrimination against several white library employees who were given job reassignments because of their race.<ref>Bogle v. McClure, 332 F.3d 1347 (11th Cir. 2003).</ref> (Fulton County eventually settled for $18 million.<ref>{{cite web|last=Olson|first=Walter|title=There goes the library budget|date=9 January 2004|url=http://overlawyered.com/2004/01/there-goes-the-library-budget/|publisher=Overlawyered: Chronicling the high cost of our legal system|accessdate=11 July 2012}}</ref>)

Bowers successfully led the merger of his Atlanta-based firm into the larger Alabama-based firm of Balch & Bingham<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.balch.com/.|title = Balch & Bingham LLP}}</ref> in June, 2003.

In 2003, Bowers started a government relations and lobbying firm with his son Bruce Bowers and John Watson, the political consultant for Georgia's then-governor, Sonny Perdue. Bowers said they had a simple objective: "to make money."<ref>{{cite news|last=Massey, Bowers & Hembree|title=New business for Bowers|url=http://www.masseybowers.com/new-business-for-bowers.xhtml|accessdate=11 July 2012|newspaper=Atlanta Business Chronicle|date=19 Jan 2003}}</ref>

In 2015, Bowers stated that his views on gay rights had "changed," and he lobbied the Georgia legislature in opposition to legislation that would allow discrimination against LGBT people on the basis of personal religious views.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/07/us/unlikely-allies-in-a-gay-rights-battle-in-georgia.html|title=Unlikely Allies in a Gay Rights Battle in Georgia|last=Fausset|first=Richard|date=March 6, 2015|work=The New York Times|access-date=April 12, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

In September, 2020 Bowers joined the Athens law firm Johnson Marlowe LLP as counsel.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Former Attorney General Mike Bowers Leaves Balch & Bingham for Athens Firm|url=https://www.law.com/dailyreportonline/2020/09/25/former-attorney-general-mike-bowers-leaves-balch-bingham-for-athens-firm/|access-date=2021-08-31|website=Daily Report|language=en}}</ref>

==Awards== His military awards include the Legion of Merit and the Meritorious Service Medal.<ref name=NGB/> He received an honorary degree in Doctor of Laws in 1988 from Oglethorpe University.<ref>{{cite web|title=Honorary Degrees Awarded by Oglethorpe University |publisher=Oglethorpe University |url=http://www.oglethorpe.edu/about_us/history/honorary_degrees.asp |accessdate=2015-03-13 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319104000/http://www.oglethorpe.edu/about_us/history/honorary_degrees.asp |archivedate=2015-03-19 }}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links==  *[http://www.balch.com/mbowers/ Balch & Bingham profile]

{{s-start}} {{s-ppo}} {{s-bef|before=Arthur K. Bolton}} {{s-ttl|title=Democratic nominee for Attorney General of Georgia|years=1982, 1986, 1990}} {{s-aft|after=Wesley Dunn}} {{s-new|first}} {{s-ttl|title=Republican nominee for Attorney General of Georgia|years=1994}} {{s-aft|after=David Ralston}} {{s-end}}{{Attorney General of Georgia}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowers, Mike}} Category:1941 births Category:Living people Category:People from Commerce, Georgia Category:United States Military Academy alumni Category:Stanford University School of Engineering alumni Category:David Eccles School of Business alumni Category:University of Georgia School of Law alumni Category:Georgia (U.S. state) lawyers Category:Georgia (U.S. state) Democrats Category:Georgia (U.S. state) attorneys general Category:Georgia (U.S. state) Republicans Category:Recipients of the Meritorious Service Medal (United States) Category:Recipients of the Legion of Merit Category:United States Air Force generals