Thursday, October 30, 2008
News T-Jack seems worried
Posted by Scott Henry @ScottTheHenry on Thu, Oct 30, 2008 at 5:46 PM
Atlanta's legal community is watching with great interest the spirited race between Fulton County Superior Court Judge T. Jackson "T-Jack" Bedford and challenger, Atlanta Magistrate Court Judge Keisha Lance Bottoms.
Nobody does polling in judicial contests, so it's impossible to know exactly how tight the race is with five days to go before the Nov. 4 election. But we hear talk that T-Jack is worried about his re-election chances. This past Sunday, Bedford was spotted making the rounds at African American churches in South Atlanta looking to shore up his support.
Bedford is white; Bottoms is black. So, for that matter, is Fulton D.A. Paul Howard, who was handcuffed by deputies on Bedford's orders a couple years back during a courtroom disagreement.
That incident, in addition to some criticized rulings, has made Bedford a figure of controversy – not a good position for any judge. But Bottoms has spent most of her efforts attacking T-Jack for carrying a huge backlog of cases – meaning cases assigned to Bedford that he hasn't heard yet.
There may be many reasons for a judicial backlog: inheriting someone else's caseload, getting bogged down with a long murder trial, etc. On the other hand, a judge could be taking too much time off or isn't forceful enough in urging settlements.
We don't know the reasons for T-Jack's backlog – he didn't return our calls – but we do know it's alarmingly big. According to statistics provided by the clerk of Fulton Superior Court, as of July, Jackson had 501 criminal cases pending – far higher than any other judge on that bench. The runner-up had a backlog of 285 cases and most judges had less than half as many as Bedford.
But another figure is even more worrisome. Bedford had 290 cases that have been pending a year or more. The next-highest was 117 cases and the average was well below 100. These numbers are important because they represent crime victims who are waiting for justice and suspects rotting in jail because they couldn't afford bail.
Bedford's campaign has been busy sending out glossy mailers, but we'd like to see him address the issue of his monumental backlog. The voters have a right to know.
Comments (12)
Showing 1-12 of 12
Can CL confirm that a 19-year old committed suicide this week while in Fulton County jail and that the person was part of Judge Bedford's backlog of cases?
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CL should know better than to jump on the bogus "victim's rights" bandwagon by talking about the court system as though its purpose is to give justice to victims. The criminal justice system punishes people for crimes -- that is, for breaking the law, not for harming victims. It is the law, not the victim, that requires justice. The civil court system is for redressing victims other than the law itself.
I've heard that allegation about the inmate who died, but no, I can't confirm it. The AJC brief can be found here: http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/stories/2008/10/26/fulton_inmate_dies_1027_web.html?cxntlid=inform_artr
T Jack is lucky that Geo. Anderson's ethics complaints are running late. T. Jack may be the Ted Stevens of the Fulton bench, but sadly we won't know for sure until after we've voted, unlike with the Senator from Alaska. But we know enough from his bizzare behavior to be sure that T Jack is an out-of-control kinda guy with far too much arbitrary power of Fulton citizens.
T-Jack has occupied a seat on the Bench for far too long. His courtroom antics are reprehensible and disgusting. The fact that T-Jack thinks he is above the law and can "make up" the law as he sees fit is terrifying for those who are unfortunate enough to enter into his egomaniacal domain. Fulton County, this is your chance to get this maniac out of office once and for all. Vote this loser out!
I saw Judge Bedford speak recently at a gathering of lawyers and his explanation for the backlog at that time was that because he had been very good at resolving cases on his docket, the Chief Judge decided to transfer other judges' backlogged cases to him. I forget the actual numbers he said were transferred, but it was at minimum several hundred both criminal and civil cases. For what it's worth from one lawyer's view, Judge Bedford seemed very offended at being challenged by Bottoms (who I suspect he finds to be dangerously inexperienced) but he was clearly a smart, competent, passionate guy.
T. Jackson Bedford is a good, thoughtful judge. I've been before him more than once (as an attorney). Perhaps the answer to reducing case backlog is to hire more judges, not encourage cases to rushed to settlement or a guilty plea. If I was a litigant or a defendant, I'd be very happy to draw T-Jack. I'm also looking forward to the day that T-Pain and T-Jack cross paths.
I am for Ms. Bottoms. Bedford has been there too long and is just comfortable in the position unfortunately. He also is trying to attack her lack of experience, however, he forgets that she has been a magistrate judge.
I also am an atty and have been in Judge Bedford's court. In my experience, he is unprepared, unfamiliar with the pleadings in the case, and far, far from a thoughtful jurist. I am no fan of Paul Howard, but Bedford's decision to handcuff the DA said a lot about his arrogant and abusive "judicial temperament."
By the way, not only did Bedford unlawfully arrest DA Howard, he is now lying about it, saying he and Howard have reconciled. Howard has issued this statement: Statement from District Attorney Paul L. Howard, Jr. Refutes Claim of Reconciliation with Judge T. Jackson Bedford, Jr. On Tuesday, October 28, 2008, The Daily Report published a story about the judicial election between Superior Court Judge T. Jackson Bedford, Jr. and his opponent, Magistrate Judge Keisha Lance Bottoms. As part of the story, the newspaper report quoted Judge Bedford as saying, “Howard and I have shaken hands and have spoken since then. We’re fine.” Since my election as District Attorney, I have refrained from participating in judicial elections involving incumbent judges. National Prosecution Standards require prosecutors to avoid any activities which may appear to conflict with the duties and responsibilities of the prosecutor’s office. My belief is that involvement in incumbent judge elections is one such activity. That position notwithstanding, the statement made by Judge Bedford demands clarification. We have not shaken hands and resolved this matter. We are not fine. I regard Judge Bedford’s treatment of me and the office I represent during this incident as one of the most sinister, ignominious and personally painful actions that I have witnessed or experienced as a lawyer and as a person. I believe that illegally limiting or curtailing the freedom of any citizen violates one of the highest protections guaranteed by the Constitution and our system of laws. I stand strongly behind the findings of independent special prosecutor Danny Craig, who, incidentally, is now a judge in the Augusta Judicial Circuit, that Judge Bedford’s actions constituted “an unlawful arrest”.
So how are cases assigned to judges? That's what I want to know. Who does it etc.
I have only the vaguest understanding of it, but I believe there are multiple ways a case ends up on a particular judge's docket. Newly filed cases are randomly assigned to one of the judges on the court where the case is filed, with an effort to distribute them fairly evenly. When a judge leaves the bench such as Penny Brown Reynolds earlier this year, their existing docket is split up among the other judges by the chief judge as he or she sees fit. They might assign all of the cases to one person, or they can try to distribute them evenly. And the chief judge also has the power to reassign cases between sitting judges for whatever reasons they deem are necessary. I've had cases of mine reassigned for no apparent reason from one sitting judge to another.
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