Fani Willis facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Fani Willis
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Willis in 2024
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| District Attorney of Fulton County | |
| Assumed office January 1, 2021 |
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| Preceded by | Paul Howard Jr. |
| Judge of the South Fulton, Georgia Municipal Court | |
| In office 2019–2020 |
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| Preceded by | Tiffany Sellers |
| Succeeded by | Michael L. Sheridan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | October 27, 1971 Inglewood, California, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse |
Fred Willis
(m. 1996; div. 2005) |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | Howard University (BA) Emory University (JD) |
| Website | |
Fani Taifa Willis (born October 27, 1971) is an American lawyer. She is the district attorney for Fulton County, Georgia, which includes most of Atlanta. She has held this important role since 2021. She is the first woman to be the district attorney there.
As district attorney, Ms. Willis has led important investigations. One looked into the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. Another investigated a music label called YSL Records for group-related activities.
Contents
Early Life and Schooling
Fani Willis was born in Inglewood, California. Her father, John C. Floyd III, was a lawyer. When Fani was in first grade, her family moved to Washington, D.C.. Her father worked there as a lawyer who defended people in court. Her parents later divorced, and Fani mostly lived with her father.
She went to Regina High School in Maryland. This was an all-girls Catholic school. In 1993, she graduated from Howard University. She studied political science there. After that, she moved to Atlanta. She attended Emory University School of Law and became a lawyer in 1996.
Starting Her Career
Ms. Willis's first job in government was as a solicitor. She handled cases about smaller crimes and city rules. For 16 years, she worked as a prosecutor in the Fulton County district attorney's office.
One of her most well-known cases was the Atlanta Public Schools cheating scandal. In this case, some educators were accused of changing student test answers. This was done to make test scores look better. Ms. Willis was a lead prosecutor in this trial. Most of the educators were found responsible for their actions in 2015.
In 2018, she started her own law practice. She also ran for a judge position but did not win. In 2019, Ms. Willis became the Chief Municipal Judge for South Fulton, Georgia.
District Attorney of Fulton County
In 2020, Fani Willis was elected as the district attorney for Fulton County. She won against Paul Howard Jr., who had held the job for a long time. In her role, she is known for using a specific law about organized group activities. She has used this law to investigate different kinds of cases.
In 2022, an employee in her office said Ms. Willis fired her. The employee claimed she found plans to misuse government money. In 2024, a committee in the U.S. House of Representatives asked Ms. Willis for information about this. Ms. Willis stated the employee was fired for good reasons. She also said the money was used correctly.
In November 2024, Ms. Willis won her re-election. She had raised over $2 million for her campaign.
2020 Election Investigation
On February 10, 2021, Ms. Willis started an investigation. This looked into attempts to influence Georgia election officials. These attempts were related to the 2020 presidential election. The goal was to find out if anyone tried to change the election results in Georgia.
In January 2022, she asked for a special grand jury. This jury would look at possible election interference. In May, a grand jury was formed. They had the power to investigate and gather information. They were asked to report their findings to the judge and Ms. Willis.
Ms. Willis sent letters to people being investigated. These included some Republican officials and people who falsely claimed to be electors. The special grand jury finished its work in January 2023. They had heard from 75 witnesses. Parts of their report were made public in February.
On August 14, 2023, Ms. Willis's office formally accused Donald Trump and 18 other people of various actions. In 2024, a judge removed some of these accusations. However, prosecutors could choose to refile them later.
In January 2024, a person involved in the case asked for the accusations to be dismissed. They also asked for Ms. Willis to be removed from the case. This was because of a personal relationship she had with the lead prosecutor, Nathan Wade. On March 15, 2024, the judge ruled that either Ms. Willis or Mr. Wade had to leave the case. The judge said their relationship created an "appearance of impropriety." This means it looked like the case might not be handled fairly. Nathan Wade resigned from the case a few hours later.
In May 2024, the Georgia Court of Appeals agreed to review the decision about Ms. Willis. On December 19, the appeals court ruled that Ms. Willis and her office should be removed. Ms. Willis's office said they would appeal this decision to the highest court in Georgia.
Atlanta Group Investigations
In May 2022, Ms. Willis's office formally accused Young Thug and 28 members of his YSL record label. This was for activities related to groups. The trial began on November 27, 2023. This case became the longest in Georgia's history. On October 31, 2024, Young Thug reached an agreement. He was given 15 years of probation and was released. Ms. Willis's office released a statement about this agreement.
Personal Life
Fani Willis met Fred Willis on the day she took her bar exam to become a lawyer. They married in 1996 and have two daughters. They divorced in 2005.
