Many American's with two convicted DUI's can't get an executive job, work for the government, buy a house or get a car loan. Now one who fits the category wants to be a Superior Court Judge for Fulton County.

Judge candidate Kelly Amanda Lee, an Atlanta lawyer, who ran unsuccessfully for the same bench position in 2008, now finds herself on the downside of a multiple arrest record that threatens the viability of her candidacy. Also problematic for Lee is the fact that she chose not to come clean with her key North Fulton supporters prior to securing their public endorsement.

Through an open records request for Lee's application for an unrelated appointment to the Georgia bench, The Beacon confirmed the attorney's prior two DUI convictions. Lee was a student at UGA when she received her first DUI in May of 1990 in Athens. 12 years later, in January 2002, Lee landed in the slammer again when she was arrested on a second DUI charge in Virginia Highlands.

Lee pleaded no contest to the first DUI and pled guilty to second one. A third one likely gets her a six-month sentence in county prison. But Lee says that won't happen. She claims she stopped drinking altogether four years ago. When questioned about the two DUI convictions, Lee was candid. "Driving is a privilege and drinking is a privilege," she said. "They don’t go together."

Lee further stated that that her second DUI conviction was "a wake-up call." She said she has tried to move on since the 2002 D.U.I. "That time the lesson was learned," Lee said. Lee maintains that she's paid her debt to society and wants to "move ahead" serving the people of Fulton County. "I unequivocally guarantee that this will never happen again," Lee promised. Claiming a clean record since 2002, Lee says she can use these experiences and be "a more compassionate judge."

STORY CHANGES 

Lee's story on her alcohol consumption habits, however, changed at least twice based on who she talked with. She told one Beacon reporter she has not had a drink in eight years before telling another reporter she has been a teatotaler for four years.

But several other noted elected officials, who requested anonymity, told The Beacon they have seen Lee drinking while out socially as little as a few months ago. Recent photos of Lee at a campaign event where she mud-wrestled with friends shows her holding several free drink tickets in her hand. 

LEE DOESN'T COME CLEAN WITH SUPPORTERS

Lee has some big name North Fulton political endorsements listed on her campaign website, like former House Speaker Mark Burkhalter, House Speaker Pro-Tem Jan Jones, and House Subcommittee Appropriations Committee Chairman Chuck Martin, among many others. When asked if Lee made them aware of her two DUI convictions prior to asking for their endorsement, both Jones and Martin said they had no knowledge of either of them. Like "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," Lee countered that if anyone would have asked she'd have fessed up.

"They didn’t ask me that question, so I didn't volunteer the information," Lee said. The lawyer admitted that most of her endorsers were probably unaware of her past arrest history. Undaunted, Lee vowed to stay in the race.

Opponents of Lee decided to go "cyber" by creating website detailing the matter: http://www.kellylee.info

DO DUI'S MATTER?

When Fulton County voters go to the polls on to choose their next Superior Court judge, they'll have to determine if they can overlook the fact that one of their choices on the ballot was on the wrong side of the law twice. Can redemption be given -- or will her dual convictions prove to be too diffi cult for voters to reconcile, especially with four other viable candidates on the ballot? We'll find out on November 2.