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♦ THURSDAY, JANUARY 20, 2005
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OPINION
Daniel F. Evans
President,
Editor and Publisher
Julie B. Evans Rex Gambill
Vice President Managing Editor
Foy S. Evans
Editor Emeritus
Should Prisoners Be Paid?
Should Georgia’s prison inmates be turned into
laborers in privately owned factories to offset the
cost of housing them?
Corrections commissioner James Donald wants to
put prisoners in state institutions to work and pay
them for it.
Arguments in favor of instituting such a program
include teaching job skills and work ethic, so that
prisoners can become useful members of society
when released, as well as having a next egg saved up
when they are released.
It sounds good. But how many of the people in
prison want to be rehabilitated or can be turned
into useful citizens? Most of them are in prison
because they have chosen a way of life that puts
them there.
Some prison authorities contend that the present
system of giving prisoners $25 and a bus tickets is
merely a ticket back to prison on the assumption
that prisoners will hit the streets and commit the
crimes that got them in prison again.
Attempts to rehabilitate prisoners sound good,
but the record wherever it has been tried has been
abysmal.
Some opponents of Commissioner Donald see this
as an attempt to provide cheap labor for some com
panies who decided to work with the state at the
expense of other privately owned businesses that
pay their employees well.
We wonder how far this proposal will get. We won
der if it isn’t just another politician attempting to
put his stamp on the governmental agency he
heads.
Can't Tell Them Apart
A humorist in the AJC asks how do you make a
Republican spend like a Democrat, with the answer
“elect them.”
So far, in recent years, that is exactly what has
happened.
President George W. Bush is the spendingest pres
ident in history. We’re not including the war in Iraq.
He has endorsed and agreed to soaring costs of most
government programs during his first term.
He promises it will be different next time around.
We hope so. We hope that his rhetoric in favor of
more fiscally responsible government will be trans
lated into actions.
In Georgia so far it has been a different story. Gov.
Sonny Perdue has stepped on some toes and disap
pointed others with his determination to adhere to
sound fiscal principles. Some contend that he acted
that way during the past two yeas because the
state’s back was against the wall financially.
Maybe so. But now the rubber is hitting the road
and Gov. Perdue is living up to his promises with an
austere budget for the next fiscal year. It is the
largest budget in history, but there are signs that
runaway spending is being harnessed.
If Perdue is able to put his sensible, fiscally
responsible image on Georgia government during
the next two years of his first term he will have
served his constituents well and will be in a strong
position to get re-elected.
Wealth is measured by friendships, not bank accounts
When you have witnessed
as many sunrises and sun
sets as I have, you learn
some inevitable truths. You
discover, for example, that
you measure your wealth
not by bank accounts and
accumulated toys, but by
meaningful friendships, and
that the best friends are the
ones willing to accept you
the way you are - warts and
all.
Thankfully, I have such a
friend. His name is Jere
White. Many people know
him as The Honorable Jere
F. White, senior judge of the
Superior Court of Bartow
County. I know him as my
friend - and a pretty fair
country golfer. Jere White is
a senior citizen and capable
of shooting his age or better
any day that he is on the
course.
I first met Judge White
when I joined the board of
directors of our condomini-
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Dick Yarbrough
Columnist
yarb24oo@bellsouth.net
um association at St.
Simons, but I had known
about him long before, while
I was serving as the only
non-attorney member of the
State Ethics Commission. I
sat and listened to my fellow
commissioners at our lunch
breaks discuss various
judges, including the arro
gant and the incompetent,
Innocent children are victims of decisions
The item received little, if
any, notice in the news. In
my opinion, it is an impor
tant and disturbing story.
A mother gave up her
infant daughter. I don’t
know why. The daughter
was adopted by a responsi
ble married couple. They
have raised the little girl as
their own for three years.
Out of nowhere comes the
natural mother. She goes to
court and says that she
wants her daughter back.
And a judge ruled in her
favor. The little 3-year-old
girl was taken from the
adoptive parents and was
turned over to the single
mother who isn’t very
impressive when you look at
or listen to her.
This reflects a flaw in the
law. It is not uncommon for
courts to return children to
natural parents, who have
apparently cleaned up their
acts, without taking into
consideration the child or
children involved.
It seems to me that any
hearing concerning who will
keep a child should take into
account the welfare of the
Some things in life never change
“What the heck?” I could
barely find a parking spot in
front of my gym. It was the
first week after the New
Year and the placed was
packed out.
A lot of new faces and
plenty of grunting and
groaning. Where did all the
new faces come from? And
then it hit me. The New
Year’s resolution people
were back - again.
It happens every year
about this time. Couch pota
toes from all over Houston
County make their annual
pilgrimage to local gymnasi
ums in a futile effort to
recapture the vitality and
muscularity of their youth.
Yes sir, they have emptied
the potato chips into the
trashcan, and poured the
Coke and alcoholic bever
ages down the drain. Sure,
. there was much weeping
and gnashing of teeth, but
one has to be strong when
making a New Year’s resolu
tion.
I have seen this pattern
for many years and I had to
smile as I navigated my way
through the crowded gym. I
know the numbers will thin
out dramatically around
mid-February or early
March.
Walking on the treadmill
will inevitably be replaced
by running to the refrigera
tor during a commercial
break of the latest reality
series, “Big Fat Losers.”
After all, it’s much more
comfortable to watch other
people agonize over losing
weight than to actually
make a real stand regarding
your own bulging belly and
enormous behind.
As I get older I have dis
covered that promises made
on New Year’s Eve are
rarely honored. For that
matter, any promises made
in the midnight hour should
but when they got to Jere
White, the unanimous feel
ing was that he was one of
the finest men on the bench
- courteous to all parties,
knowledgeable of the law
and whose decisions were
rarely overturned.
It turns out they had only
scratched the surface. Jere
White is the epitome of the
gracious Southern
Gentleman. He is equally
courteous to the important
and the not-so-important.
Go into any restaurant on
St. Simons with him and the
waitresses holler, “Jere, how
yah doin’?” Few, if any, of
them know he is a highly
respected judge. All know
that he is a good and decent
man they enjoy waiting on.
Jere White served as supe
rior court judge in Bartow
County from 1976 to 1992,
and prior to that was the
county’s solicitor general or,
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Foy Evans
Columnist
foye vans 19@cox.net
child, first and foremost.
Courts today lean toward to
considering adults, leaving
children as victims and
pawns.
I like to believe that in
Houston County our courts
will always be defenders of
children at the expense of
adults’ selfish motives.
• • •
If you want to observe
something disgusting just
turn on your television as
members of the Senate hold
confirmation hearings for
President Bush’s appointees
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Steve Tesseniar
Columnist
writeronstorm@aol.com
not be taken seriously. The
sunlight of a brand new day
tends to expose the lack of
sincerity regarding our late
night promises.
The sheer fantasy of
nighttime thoughts and
dreams is often replaced
with the reality that day
time discipline and action is
required in order to keep
one’s word.
We live one way for 364
days of the year. And then
moments before the ball
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in today’s parlance, district
attorney. He has an old-fash
ioned and refreshing view of
the law. He thinks young
lawyers should do as much
pro bono work as possible
and learn to appreciate the
law, rather than racking up
billable hours in some silk
stocking law firm. He knows
whereof he speaks. As a
young lawyer in
Cartersville, he defended
accused murderers, robbers
and other nefarious slugs,
not because he wanted to
but because the law says
everyone is entitled to legal
representation. Jere White
saw that they got it.
But don’t be fooled by his
gracious manner. In the
courtroom, he ran the show.
The story is told of a high
profile Atlanta attorney who
appeared in Judge White’s
courtroom and made
numerous objections to the
to the courts and his cabi
net. Or other senatorial
hearings.
Senators have staffs that
give them the result of
unlimited research so that
the senators can challenge
the appointees on many
issues.
Of course, the appointees
never fight back. They are
expected to sit idly by and
permit the senators to
attack them and their char
acters relentlessly.
Watching the senators on
television it is easy to see
that they are bullies (know
ing the appointees will not
fight back) whose own back
grounds never would stand
up under investigation and
interrogation.
I remember when Sen.
Ted Kennedy pompously
asked a representative of
the Defense Department
about a form of water tor
ture allegedly used on Iraqi
prisoners. The witness acted
professionally, but I join one
of my friends who said the
witness should have replied,
“More people drowned at
Chappaquiddick than we
drops in Times Square, we
throw the buttered popcorn
at the television set and yell
from the La-Z-Boy recliner,
“That’s it! I’m through
being lazy, uninspired and
pot-bellied. Look out Brad
Pitt!” Yeah, right!
And then it hits you like a
hard slap across the face -
you still have 15 minutes
before 2005 actually arrives,
so technically you can stuff
the rest of the greasy pop
corn down your gullet and
wash it down with a gallon
of root beer and still not
break your New Year’s reso
lution.
You may be asking,
“Steve, why so cynical in
2005?” Another question
might be, “Why do you find
it necessary to slam our New
Year’s resolutions, our
hopes, our dreams?”
I will not apologize,
because these words are as
much for me as they are for
you. Short bursts of inspira
tion right before the New
Year are about as productive
as a lone 100-yard sprint
judge’s rulings. If overruled,
he would look at the judge
and then the jury and shrug
dramatically as he walked
back to his chair. After the
third shrug, Judge White
sent the jury out and told
the lawyer that as judge, he
was doing his best to ensure
a fair trial and if he misap
plied the law, he was sure
the lawyer would take the
case to the Court of Appeals
and quickly have his rulings
overturned, which, he said,
was the way it should be.
“In the meantime,” the
judge said quietly, “shrug at
me one more time and you
will spend your nights in the
Bartow County jail.” End of
shrugs.
Despite his reputation as a
respected jurist, Judge
White’s greatest pride is his
family. He and his wife,
Laura, have raised three
successful children and bask
THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
have drowned in Iraq.”
The eruption that would
have ensued would have
been worth watching.
• • •
I am not going to express
an opinion on this subject. I
am tossing it out for you to
arrive at your own conclu
sion.
The Air Force wants to
downsize the number of air
planes it is ordering. This
will result in the loss of
some jobs in Georgia and,
possibly, adversely affect the
economy.
Members of Congress
fight the cutback in number
of airplanes because of the
adverse effect it could have
on Georgia’s economy.
Who is right? Should the
Air Force determine the
number and types of air
planes it wants or should
members of congress make
the determination?
It is an interesting subject
and it is being played out in
Georgia, the Air Force and
Congress right now.
What is right? What is
wrong? You surely know.
during the mile run.
You are destined to come
up short. You will not cross
the finish line. You will be
making the same resolution
in 364 days.
All of us know the true
way to break free of old
habits that cripple us emo
tionally and physically, but
the truth is so hard to
embrace.
The unflinching and indis
putable truth is that life is
hard, and old habits die a
thousand deaths.
If we are going to improve
our minds and bodies over
the long haul, there is only
one road to take - We must
sacrifice. We have to
approach every new morn
ing with disciplined
thoughts and disciplined
actions.
Did I offend you? Good.
Now take your anger and do
something productive with
it. Maybe we will bump into
each other along the way.
Steve Tesseniar is princi
pal of Parkwood Elementary
School. His column appears
every Thursday.
in the glory of equally suc
cessful grandchildren who
range from a member of the
Bush administration to a
linebacker at the University
of Virginia.
I have met few people with
more integrity than Jere
White. Most importantly, for
someone who has spent
most of his life in public
service, he probably can’t
call to mind a single enemy,
even among those he has
prosecuted as DA or convict
ed as judge. How many peo
ple can you say that about?
I lack the ability to ade
quately describe this good
man. Suffice it to say that I
am veiy rich because I can
call Jere White my friend.
You can reach Dick
Yarbrough at
yarb24oo@bellsouth.net,
P.O. Box 725373, Atlanta,
GA 31139, or Web site:
www.dickyarbrough.com.