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BARROW NEWS-JOURNAL
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28 2016
Opinions
“Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press,
and that cannot be limited without being lost.
~ Thomas Jefferson ~
Georgia Press Association, first place, Best Editorial Page; first place, Best Serious Column
Eager for arrival
of fall once again
In theory, I suppose, your favorite month
should be the one you were born in.
However, while I was born in May (a fine
month, to be sure), I’ve always put the month
of October at the very top of my list.
October is set for its yearly return Saturday
and I welcome it back with open arms. There
will always be something special about October,
to me at least. It means fall has finally returned
once again. It means more comfortable tem
peratures. It means a renewed sense of life and
being. It means Halloween. It conjurs up child
hood memories of being in the homestretch
until Christmas.
I realize our tempera
tures in Septemeber have
been more summer-like
than fall but one has to
believe with October now
less than a handful of
days away, that the heat
wave will break. It has to,
doesn’t it?
This year it seems
I’ve needed my favorite
month more than most.
It will feel good to flip the
several calendars I have at
home and in the office to the 10th month of the
year. I know it’s all mental, but the sky seems
bluer now. The air seems cleaner and perhaps,
just perhaps, that early-morning fall coolness
will be noticeable after another brutal summer.
Fall is also my favorite season and October is
the month which kick starts it for me. It’s usual
ly still too hot in September (certainly true this
year). However, the arrival of October usually
does the trick.
Even brief drives around town are more
enjoyable on the eyes, as people have fall
decorations at their homes and businesses.
Hopefully, the next couple of months will also
help replenish the mind and body. Fall, and
especially the month of October, seem to have
that magical power.
As a child, I recall attending fall festivals held
at my school and in my hometown and enjoy
ing even more time with my friends. Those
were great times and while they are but an
aging memory in my rearview mirror now, I try
to keep those times as new as if they happened
last week.
Fall and October also mean we are knee
deep into another football season. The “boys
of fall,” whether at the high school, college or
pro level, will always have a fan in yours truly.
On the high school fields, it’s time to make a
push for the postseason. College football will
always be a Saturday tradition for me and I
usually watch games from noon to well past the
witching hour.
I grow up a Falcons’ fan and I hope in 2016
they can return to the playoffs although I must
admit to having my doubts. To be honest, my
favorite pro team has becom the New England
Patriots as one has to admire the success the
franchise has had year in and year out. I know
the pro game is not for everyone but football
on Sunday afternoon is something that is still
required for me.
On a lighter side, the arrival of October and
fall once more signifies the end to outdoor
chores such as keeping the yard mowed and
certainly I am thankful for that. For a few
months anyway, I won’t have to try and squeeze
that chore into my already-packed week.
So here’s to football, fall festivals, hayrides,
corn mazes and crisp, cool air that greets you
when you leave for work in the morning. I
wasn’t sure we would make it again, but some
how October and fall seem to find us each year
at this time.
The football games I attend will seem to have
a little more meaning and even the temperature
will be just right. Fall and football will always be
a perfect combination.
So while May will always occupy the No. 2
spot on my list of favorite months, the section
of calendar which still holds the top position
has arrived. I’m thankful October has a full 31
days to enjoy as I know I will always treasure
each one of them.
I hope the arrival of October and fall mean as
much to you as it does to me. Quite frankly, it
wouldn’t be the same without them.
They are a couple of those smaller things in
life which make it worthwhile. Welcome back,
old friends.
• • •
The Barrow News-Journal is planning a
special look at the 50th year of W. Clair Harris
Stadium in an upcoming issue. If anyone has
any vintage pictures of the stadium under con
struction or of the stadium in its early years,
please contact me at the email address below
or call 770-380-9015.
Barrow County sports historian Hal Miller is
compiling the special look at the stadium’s first
five decades. The story will be published later
this fall.
Winder resident Chris Bridges is editor of the
Barrow Journal. You can reach him at cbridg-
es@barrowjournal. com.
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1 TOLD HlfANOTTo
PLAY THE DEBATE FACT-CHECK
DPlNKlNGGAME... _
Who should judge the judges?
There are roughly 2,000 judges in
Georgia, serving at every level of the
judicial system from the state Supreme
Court all the way down to local magis
trate judges.
The great majority of these men and
women are honorable people who
try to do a decent job of making sure
justice is served in their court
rooms. But there are occasion
ally dishonest or emotionally
disturbed people who have to
be removed from their judge-
ships for the good of the com
munity.
Over the past decade, more
than 60 bad judges have left the
bench because of their miscon
duct. Let’s look at what some of
them did.
One of the judges told a female
lawyer handling a divorce case
that she should drop her pants
in a private display in the judge’s
chambers.
Another judge pulled out a handgun
while presiding in court and told a
female witness, “You might as well
shoot your lawyer.”
Another judge arranged to have evi
dence planted so that a woman was
arrested on drug charges by local law
enforcement officers. He did this after
she refused to have sex with him.
Another judge was caught having
sex with an assistant public defender
who had represented defendants in
his courtroom.
Another judge ordered a drug offend
er to be held in solitary confinement
for an indefinite period of time, prohib
iting all contacts with family, attorneys
or drug court counselors. The young
offender attempted to commit suicide
by slitting her wrists.
These were judges who clearly were
a danger to public safety and decency
every day that they sat on the bench.
They were removed from the judicial
system largely as a result of inves
tigations conducted by the Judicial
Qualifications Commission (JQC).
The JQC is one of the smallest agen
cies in state government, but it has
played an important role in weeding
out people unfit to be dispensing jus
tice.
In many instances, the mere pros
pect of being hauled before the JQC
and having their misdeeds exposed
in a hearing is enough to persuade a
judge under investigation to voluntarily
resign.
“When I tell them they’re entitled to
a public trial, a light bulb seems to go
on in their head,” said Richard Hyde,
for several years the JQC’s chief inves
tigator. “They don’t want a public trial.”
Judges are powerful people, how
ever, and some of them started com
plaining to legislators.
Among its many investigations
of judges, the JQC admittedly mis
handled a couple of them involving
Cynthia Becker, a former DeKalb
County Superior Court judge, and
Mitchell Scoggins, a Bartow County
probate judge.
“We still owe an apology to both of
Write a Letter to the Editor:
Let us know your thoughts: Send
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tor” in the subject line. Please include
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these people,” Hyde conceded at a
recent legislative hearing.
Some lawmakers are using those two
cases as an excuse to dismantle the
JQC as an independent commission.
They plan to replace it with an agency
that is controlled by legislators and
empowered to conduct its business
secretly.
The General
Assembly passed a
constitutional amend
ment that will be on the
Nov. 8 election ballot. If
voters approve it, that
amendment will dis
solve the current JQC
and give legislators free
rein to replace it.
You can figure out the
legislative intent here by
looking at the names
of those who spon
sored the constitutional
amendment. They include state Rep.
Johnnie Caldwell Jr. (R-Thomaston).
Caldwell was one of the judges I
referred to earlier, the one who made
lewd, sexually suggestive remarks to a
female attorney. After the JQC inves
tigated him in 2010, Caldwell agreed
to leave the bench immediately and
never run for a judgeship again.
That promise did not extend to
running for the legislature, however,
which Caldwell did in 2012 when he
won his House seat.
Georgia needs an independent
agency like the Judicial Qualifications
Commission.
Judges are some of the most pow
erful people in our political system,
and unless monitored by an outside
commission, bad judges will continue
to sit on the bench.
If there are objections to the way the
JQC handled a couple of its cases, the
best solution is to revise the rules gov
erning the agency to prevent the mis
takes from happening again. It should
not be an excuse to eliminate one of
the best protections that citizens have
against corrupt judges.
Voters should vote no on this consti
tutional amendment.
Tom Crawford is editor of The
Georgia Report, an internet news ser
vice at gareport.com that reports on
state government and politics. He can
be reached at tcrawford@gareport.
com.
The Barrow News-Journal
Winder. Barrow County. Ga.
www.BarrowJoumal.com
Mike Buffington
Co-Publisher
Scott Buffington
Co-Publisher
Chris Bridges
Editor
Jessica Brown
Photographer
Susan Treadwell
Advertising
Sharon Hoaan
Office & Reoorter
Also covering beats are Alex Pace and Scott Thompson
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«■
scott
thompson
Conversation never
a bad thing
Perhaps it’s the social media-fueled
reactionary nature of today’s society.
Or maybe it’s the general devaluing
of education around this country that
hinders critical thinking and constructive
dialogue.
But too often when a controversy such
as San Francisco
49’ers quarterback
Colin Kaepernick’s
ongoing national
anthem protest aris
es, we yell at each
other, draw the battle
lines and then walk
away — eventually
forgetting the epi
sode until the next
similar one emerges.
In Kaepernick’s
case, the reactions
have ranged from
his patriotism and sincerity being ques
tioned to rumors of his conversion to
Islam to claims that “The Star-Spangled
Banner” celebrates the murder of
African-Americans.
And for too many people, that’s the
end of the discussion. But why?
It’s unfortunate that so much of this sit
uation has centered around Kaepernick
and not the meaning behind his protest
and the conversations generated by it.
Even Kaepernick is not free of blame
here.
I respect his right to protest and agree
that racism and oppression are a part
of our nation’s history that shouldn’t be
ignored. It’s a sore that, despite years
of progress, hasn’t been completely
healed.
On the other hand, I don’t agree with
his method. To me, the flag stands for
something totally different. While people
have oppressed other people, the flag
should represent something greater —
freedom to express ideas, compassion
toward fellow human beings and service
to one another.
Kaepernick certainly didn’t do himself
any favors early on. His decision to wear
a Fidel Castro T-shirt while simultane
ously speaking about oppression made it
more difficult to take him seriously.
When he wore socks depicting police
officers as pigs, he engaged in the same
type of unproductive generalization that
many of his detractors did in labeling
him unpatriotic.
Yes, police brutality is a reality, but
an overwhelming majority of the law
enforcement officers I have met are
good men and women who seek to
serve and protect their communities.
Yes, Kaepernick has the right to wear
whatever he chooses. And he has fam
ily members in the military and on the
police force, so his protest isn’t a repu
diation of all the people who have made
sacrifices in the name of our nation’s
greatest ideals and aspirations.
But how you present yourself matters.
To his credit, Kaepernick has begun to
have promising conversations with peo
ple and acknowledged that he can do a
better job of presenting his case. He and
the 49’ers have pledged money to orga
nizations that are working to improve
race relations and repair communities
gripped by violence, poverty and apathy.
Hopefully the other NFL players and
professional athletes who are taking a
symbolic knee will follow suit.
American athletes have always been
held to a double standard when speak
ing out on social issues. Some get crit
icized when not being vocal enough;
then they get chided by the same people
if their opinions aren’t in line with popu
lar thinking.
But thoughtful dialogue is never a bad
thing, especially when it inspires mean
ingful, positive action. President Barack
Obama said just as much when asked
recently about Kaepernick’s protest.
“I’d rather have young people who are
engaged in the argument and trying to
think through how they can be part of
our democratic process,” he said, “than
people who are just sitting on the side
lines and not paying attention at all.”
Talking to, not at, each other, working
through our differences by finding com
mon ground, and harnessing that into
actions that build up our communities
and promote service of others is among
the most patriotic of things those of us
who don’t wear a uniform or a badge
could do.
Scott Thompson is a reporter for the
Barrow News-Journal. You can reach
him at sthompson@mainstreetnews.
com.