Fed court debates Ga. nepotism law

ATLANTA - A federal appeals court has been asked to reinstate a Georgia law that bans the immediate family of superintendents, principals and other school administrators from running for election to a local school board.

A federal judge struck down the law in April, but state officials have asked the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reinstate it.

Kelvin Simmons - whose wife, Audrey Simmons, was an assistant principal at Gainesville Middle School - was a member of the Gainesville school board when he sued to have the law overturned earlier this year. That was after he had been denied a chance to run for re-election in November 2009.

At issue: whether he and others in his position have a fundamental right to be a candidate. State officials say the restrictions are needed to combat nepotism.