Happy summer Courts Journal readers:
Summer means legal interns! And our interns have been able to travel to accountability court graduations this month, which allows us to share three short but inspiring video stories of Drug Court graduations in Georgia — from Hall, Bartow and Troup Counties. Judge David Sweat also recently participated in an Athens-Clarke conversation about treatment courts. Aimee Maxell’s article about Athens-Clarke Mental Health Collaborative was picked up by a national publication.
The State Bar of Georgia conference took place in June and had many Georgia judges attending. That conference was also the site of the Justice P. Harris Hines awards given out by Presiding Justice Nahmias as well as the Judge Lovett awards. In addition, Justice Benham met with the minority bar associations of Georgia. Fourt Judicial Council committees met in June: Grants, Court Reporting Matters, Prevention of Sexual Harassment and Strategic Planning (the last one with a little sugar boost).
Judge Prather served as our official photographer for the Council of State Court Judges Conference and we made him an official badge proclaiming him so. His awesome pictures inspired us to seek out other judges who might do this for us. If you love photography and want to take pictures or video of your fellow Council members for history and fellowship, write us because we have a badge for you. Sharon Reiss and some of our staff worked on another Day in the Life of a Magistrate Court Judge and we learned about the swearing-in of a new magistrate court judge in Dougherty County.
Judge Philip Spivey
Judge Joyette Holmes
Judge Philip Spivey and Judge Joyette Holmes joined our “Meet the Members of the Judicial Council of Georgia” video series (although Judge Holmes recently made history being appointed Cobb County DA this month). The Council of Probate Court Judges hosted a Traffic Seminar and Municipal Court Judge, Lori Duff, got a nice profile in Walton Living. DeKalb County State Court Judge Stacey Hydrick and Gwinnett County Juvenile Court Judge Tadia Whitner were both appointed to the Superior Court bench.
The Municipal Court Judges held a successful conference with newly sworn in officers. Monte Harris, a long-time staffer of the JC/AOC, is profiled this month and we also have created a Tax Revenue Intercept Project infographic which is a court revenue project managed by our Fiscal division. Our IT Division held a “Meet and Greet” this month. @J4C_Law and @GeorgiaADR partnered to host a juvenile ADR session this month. Jerry Bruce and Judge Key teamed up to write an article for a national publication. Judge Key is also a faculty member for the National Child Abuse and Neglect Institute (CANI) as well as our state’s local Multi-Disciplinary CANI which took place in the Enotah Circuit this month.
Three new women judges were sworn in on June 17 with a packed crowd in attendance. Judge Wayne McLocklin of the Piedmont Judicial Circuit held a Parental Accountability Court (PAC) graduation and we learned from a local news article that Rome is also ramping up a PAC court. JC/AOC’s Tabitha Ponder and Albany GA Attorney Laureen Kelly visited New York to learn about their law libraries per a grant mandate. We created a video story and an advertisement for the next Expungement Clinic in Valdosta, Georgia. Finally, we end this issue with a sunrise pic of the Judicial Building taken by Judge Rickman which is getting closer to completion.
Talk to you in July
Your JC/AOC Courts Journal newsletter team: Michelle Barclay, Patricia Buonodono, Aimee Maxwell and Bruce Shaw