Augusta Chronicle Article: Changes ahead in courts
January 18, 2007
By Sandy Hodson| Staff Writer
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Change is coming to the Augusta Judicial Circuit, the first in decades. storyPhotos();
Andrew Davis Tucker/Staff
Incoming Chief Judge J. Carlisle Overstreet said the judges recognize the need for diversity in the courtroom.
One of the first changes the Superior Court judges will initiate is filling the juvenile court judge’s position in Richmond County that has been vacant since Judge Herbert Kernighan Jr. died.
The judges are contemplating asking two or more attorneys to serve part time instead of choosing just one. And for the first time, those with business in the court might see a woman or a black judge on the bench.
In a recent interview with Chronicle editors, incoming Chief Judge J. Carlisle Overstreet said the Superior Court judges, who decide who fills the four-year juvenile judgeships, acknowledge the need for diversity in the job. The judges have always been older, white men in the past.
All applications were due Friday, Judge Overstreet said.
Another change some would like to see realized in the Augusta circuit is the creation of drug courts. Instead of sentencing drug offenders to prison or probation to succeed or fail on their own, drug courts closely supervise defendants and provide intensive treatment and counseling, and drug testing.
It would require a commitment of the judges and someone would have to supervise, Judge Overstreet said.
He estimated that drugs are responsible for the majority of criminal cases: people using or selling drugs, stealing or otherwise committing crimes to buy drugs, or committing crimes while under the influence of drugs.
“You’ve got to try something,” Judge Overstreet said.
How the judges conduct business in Superior Court also could change. Judge Overstreet said case management, not case assignment, needs overhauling.
“We just have to get on into the 21st century,” he said.
He said he hopes the court clerks’ current computer program can be updated to include case management.
Right now the judges have only a manual system of hauling cases from the entry point of arraignment to conclusion, Judge Overstreet said.
That wasn’t difficult when the circuit was small, but it’s now nearly impossible with the thousands of cases in the system.
The eight Superior Court judges also will vote on the local rules of court this spring. These rules spell out how the judges divide and assign cases.
Currently, the five judges with the most seniority are assigned to preside over civil and criminal cases. The three remaining judges are responsible for domestic cases such as divorce and child custody.
One of the biggest changes already discussed is mediation - Alternative Dispute Resolution - for domestic court cases.
In a meeting Thursday with Richmond County officials, several judges outlined their plans.
Judge Overstreet said he signed the documents earlier this month that join the Augusta circuit with the surrounding 10th Judicial District’s program.
People filing for divorce will go through the mediation process, which can be faster and cheaper than the current judicial procedure.
It should make the process less adversarial and reduce the caseloads of judges, Judge Overstreet said.
Judge Duncan D. Wheale said courts in Athens have been using mediation successfully for about 10 years.
The use of mediation might also be expanded to civil cases. Judge James G. Blanchard said it could be especially helpful to resolve cases that have been pending several years. That often happens because the parties can neither reach a settlement nor justify the expense of trial. The case stalemates, he said.
It is also difficult for complex civil cases to get to trial because of limited courtroom space, Judge Overstreet said. Richmond and Columbia counties have only two courtrooms, and Burke County has one.
Reach Sandy Hodson at (706) 823-3226 or sandy.hodson@augustachronicle.com.
CHANGES
Possible changes for the Augusta Judicial Circuit:
- Fill vacant juvenile court judge position
- Creation of drug courts
- Overhaul of case management with new software for court clerks’ computers
- Vote on local rules of court
- Implementing mediation for domestic court cases and possibly civil cases
From the Monday, January 15, 2007 edition of the Augusta Chronicle
By Tim Sturrock
TELEGRAPH STAFF WRITER
Woody Marshall, The Telegraph
Judge Tommy Day Wilcox at a hearing in November.
After 25 years making decisions that helped shape thousands of lives, Tommy Day Wilcox is moving on.
Wilcox, the second-longest serving Superior Court judge in Bibb County, said his experiences on the bench changed his life.
“I have become more understanding of the trials and tribulations of the everyday common person,” he said. “It can be a mean old world to try to live in sometimes, and I clearly understand that now.”
Wilcox, 64, is known for his efficiency, dry wit, compassion and creation of the first drug court in Georgia, which gives drug offenders the option of treatment instead of punishment. Similar drug courts now exist in at least 10 counties in Georgia including Lamar, Monroe and Laurens, he said.
A swearing-in ceremony is scheduled for today when Tripp Self, who won in a runoff against Ed Ennis last month, will officially take Wilcox’s spot on the bench.
In retiring from day-to-day court proceedings, Wilcox will now serve as a senior judge working part-time. He said he likely will continue presiding over the case of two men accused of fatally shooting Bibb County sheriff’s deputy Joseph Whitehead in March.
Wilcox, whose undergraduate and law degrees are from Mercer University, said he plans to become a legal mediator as well.
Wilcox, who grew up in Abbeville and is married with two children, worked nine years in a private law practice, taking one case to the U.S. Supreme Court, before becoming a judge in 1981.
He found aspects of the job rewarding such as the drug court and adoptions. In his last year as a full-time judge, Wilcox assigned himself the responsibility of overseeing major felony cases. Yet, he says he won’t miss his role of sentencing criminals, which he admits finding difficult.
“It’s not easy,” he said of sentencing people. “You get to know the (defendant), even if it’s a brief period of time, and you have to sit there and weigh that person’s life with what has happened to the victim. And it’s different in every single case.”
WILCOX KNOWN AS HARD WORKER
Wilcox gained a reputation for his hard work, even working for about a year in the mid-1980s while he had lymphoma, cancer of the lymph nodes. Wilcox would sometimes return to Macon to work the day after receiving treatment in Maryland.
“I was hard-headed, and if I was getting paid, I wanted to work,” he said. “That was a tough regiment to say the least, but that’s who I am.”
Linda Mosteller, his former secretary, said Wilcox was always conscientious about spending the county’s money.
Wilcox never succumbed to “robe-itus,” an arrogance about being a judge, she said. Sentences weighed heavily on him, she said.
“It shouldn’t be easy for someone to sit on the bench and sentence people to 20 to 30 years,” she said. “It affects the families a lot, too. He knows it’s not just the person it affects.”
Wilcox said the drug court he created in 1994 probably kept him from retiring earlier. The court offers drug offenders a one-year program that includes counseling and drug tests.
Wilcox started the court after getting the idea from an Athens conference. Since then, more than 1,000 people have graduated from the program.
“It was a salvation for me, because there you really got the sense you were helping people,” he said. “What a nice feeling to say at the end of the day, ‘They didn’t have a job. Now maybe we can get them a job.’ “
Wilcox said he still hears from people about how the drug court changed their lives.
Sixty percent of participants ended up failing parts of the agreement, he said.
“There, the sentencing was easier because you felt like you had truly given them a chance,” he said.
Bibb County Public Defender Lee Robinson said the drug court is Wilcox’s legacy.
“It’s difficult for (judges) to leave a legacy because they’re basically referees,” he said. “It’s a significant contribution to our community as a whole.”
“When he established it, it was a new idea and it takes someone with the kind of clout he has to get it off the ground,” Robinson said.
Robinson also credited Wilcox with maintaining a high standard of courtesy in the court, something he said has deteriorated in courts elsewhere in Georgia.
Wilcox said he never tried to lecture people but expected lawyers to be on time, not to talk when others were speaking and to show courtesy in the courtroom.
“If someone is talking … I just always say ‘OK, if y’all are having an important conversation, I’ll just sit here and wait until y’all finish your conversation then we’ll start again,’ ” he said.
The judge’s dry wit was another fixture that local attorneys remember about Wilcox’s time on the bench.
Bibb County District Attorney Howard Simms recalls being in court when a man went before Wilcox on a DUI felony charge.
The man was in his late 70s or early 80s and was eligible for first-offender status, which would clear his record. Wilcox suggested the man ask his lawyer about it.
Simms said that Wilcox explained dryly: “I would think that at your age it would be nice to check out with a clean slate.”
But Simms also remembers moments when Wilcox showed other emotions.
As the last Bibb County Superior Court judge to pronounce a death sentence in 1987, Wilcox’s voiced broke when he told Keith Patillo he would be put to death.
The sentence was later commuted to life in prison.
Wilcox admitted to being brought to tears by some of his cases, though he wouldn’t comment about specific cases.
Wilcox, who has plans to split his time between a farm in Wilcox County and his home in Bibb County, said he wants to keep his retirement low key.
“I came here over 25 year ago very quietly, and I would really like to leave very quietly,” he said.
