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| Superior Court of Fulton County Judge Kimberly Adams |
Rick and I got to Judge Adams' courtroom just as she was finishing her talk with you (sorry about that—but finding a parking space downtown, particularly for a school bus (and Rick had to parallel park that monster), is not easy). So:
1. What did we miss? Everyone give us a different point that she made when we weren't there.
2. So: what did you think? What jumped out at you about Judge Adams and what she said to you all? Did she make clearer and/or change the way you thought about how judges and/or the courtroom works? Would you want her on the bench of you had to go to court? It's great if you respond to what others say, but if you can, try not to repeat what others have said.
Finally, look at your school email: the test essay question is on it. On Monday we're going to watch a couple more clips, talk about them (and a little about Judge Adams too), and if there's any time left over, you can study and prepare for the test. EVERYONE: YOU HAVE TO HAVE YOUR BLOG RESPONSES ON THE BLOG TO GET CREDIT FOR THEM. I know some of you are still having problems posting. There's a good chance you are posting with a different email than your school one. It is up to you to fix this problem by talking with Tami in Technology.
See you Monday.
I like how Judge Adams said that the first step in receiving justice is getting access to it. I had not spent a lot of time thinking of that aspect of the word, but some people may be hindered by their personal lives (children, etc.) or a lack of money to afford an attorney, like as George said, you may end up with a public “pretender.” My image of justice, as fuzzy as it may be, had always begun in the courtroom, not with getting there.
ReplyDeleteI have always wondered just how unbiased judges are in the courtroom, and Judge Adams strikes me as someone who tries (and succeeds) to be as unbiased as possible. She even had a scholarship named after her in honor of her fairness. However, she said that Justice should not be blind because that could lead to an unawaress of the given circumstances and other things that could possibly be playing a role in a case such as racism, sexism, etc. I feel that taking off Lady Justice’s blindfold is a risky line to walk, but if done correctly, I think it would lead to the most ideal judgement in the courtroom. I would want her on the bench if I had to go to court because I have faith that she would be as diligent and “fair” as possible and pass reasonbale judgement. I also trust her because she demonstrated how cautious she is by making sure that every door was closed while speaking her mind, and she stopped talking when the juror alternate entered the room. I think she upholds a great image of a judge. (Also, I would not want to be called “Your Honor” all the time because it is so formal.)
One thing you all missed was when Judge Adams discussed the process to her becoming a judge. She talked about how she always wanted to be a judge and she doesn’t envision her life any different. Right now, I am on the complete opposite side, as I have no clue what I would want my future job to be. I thought that Judge Adams talk was great. When she first walked in, and the officer told us to rise, I was pretty intimidated and felt like I was in trouble. The more she talked, the more she warmed up to me. She began cracking jokes and at some points, I forgot she was even a judge. My view of judges are really only shaped from what I see on TV, like Judge Judy and the lady on Paternity Court. They say few jokes, but for the most part, their faces are stoic and are aggressive towards the plaintiffs and defendants. I was most surprised about how emotional she said she gets when children are standing before. I think anyone would be saddened to see teenagers being sentenced to jail, but because judges do it so often, I expected them to become numb to it. I like how she cares about not only each case, but each specific person in the case. Judge Adams said she stays in touch with the families after the case has been settled, making sure she everything is okay.
ReplyDelete1. One thing Judge Adams mentioned at the beginning of her talk were the setbacks she faced when becoming a lawyer and a judge. The most notable of these was her mother’s sudden death at around 40 years old. This not only was an emotional blow but also caused Judge Adams to move back near her family until her youngest brother completed high school. Taking care of and living with her brother postponed attending law school; nonetheless, she went to graduate school and became a lawyer.
ReplyDelete2. Judge Adams was a strong speaker and seemed very knowledgeable in the areas of law. She prided herself upon being fair, which is a vital trait in a judge. Judge Adams discussed her passion and love for her job, while also making clear the emotional toll it can take. Sometimes I hear stories about the justice system that shock me, but to hear her talk about how much pride she takes in her job fills me with confidence. Additionally, she realizes the importance of her job and the impact it has on society. If I ever had to go to court I would absolutely want to have Judge Adams on the bench. She treats every one of her cases incredibly carefully because she realizes that she is impacting a human being’s life.
You missed Judge Adams discussing her personal life and how that influenced her career. She talked about how losing her mother was a really hard part of her life and she had to come home and postpone her career in order to take care of her brother. I found it interesting but not surprising how religion played into being a judge. She was very into mercy and forgiveness. I was curious how that affected the punishments she gave out. She said she didn’t not agree with capital punishment which made sense with her beliefs. I liked how she said that she still knew that her job meat that she had to uphold the law so if th jury said suggested s punshimnet she had to comply. I thought it was interesting that she believed she had no biases. That sounds great , I don’t know if I believe it though because I think everyone has biases. It does seem like she really works on being fair to everyone which is impressive and makes me think I would want her on my case. As sad as it was I found it helpful to know that cases affect her. I was worried that at so,e point all of the trials bled together and judges begin to forget that there are real people’s lives at stake.
ReplyDeleteOne thing judge adams talked about before you and rick got there was the process to be a judge. One thing that really stood out about that to me was that you have to be a lawyer for at least 7 years. that is a very long time just to be a judge in my opinion. I think the reason they do that is so that you have a very good in depth understanding of the law. She also talked about her personal life and how that has an affect on her career. Something that jumped out to me and what I liked was how confident she is within herself. Jordyn asked something about if she is biased and judge adams responded saying she is very unbiased. She talked about how people of color have been treated unfairly in law and it wasnt fair but she also did not want to be biased about any race or gender. I asked her if she had ever regretted a sentencing and she told me she is very confident in herself and she hasnt ever regretted that. I like how she told us she never forgets about the human aspect. She told us she has a poker face in the court room but at the end of the day, they very deep and sad cases affect her.
ReplyDelete1. You and Rick missed when Judge Adams first came in and the officer in the room said “All rise.” I thought that was something you only had to do during a trial. Maybe because she was wearing her robe and we were in the courtroom, we’re still required to rise. It’s also possible that the officer just said that so we could get an idea of what being in an actual trial might feel like.
ReplyDelete2. I really enjoyed hearing about the ethical side of Judge Adam’s job. It sounds incredibly stressful. I couldn’t imagine having to make those kinds of decisions about other people’s lives. She sounded very level-headed, though. It seemed like she always put a lot of thought into her decisions. She seemed like a very empathetic person, too. I had no idea what an indictment or indictment papers were before the trip. I’m glad that we got to see what those look like. I also didn’t know about consecutive versus concurrent sentences. I was really interested in the logistics of that. I just assumed that whatever you were found guilty of added up to one very long sentence. I would definitely want her on the bench if I had to go to court. She seems very understanding. She said that she never takes sending someone to prison lightly. I think she aims to do what is best for each person, rather than to just punish people.
Judge Adams spoke about things that inspired her to become a judge before you and Rick joined us. She spoke about her days at Redan High school, being the friend that always wanted her friends to get along with eachother. If there was a conflict she would talk to her friends and try to get to the root of the problem and help them find a resolution. From a young age Adams has had a desire to help find fair resolutions to conflict between others. Adams spoke about experiencing injustice based on her race and gender throughout her early years. She described these experiences as motivating towards her journey of becoming a judge. While she had great qualities for a judge she had not planned on becoming a judge since college or earlier. She in fact worked before going to graduate school. However after graduating from law school she worked as a lawyer for some time but became a judge relatively quickly.
ReplyDeleteJudge Adams personality stuck out to me. She has a down to earth nature. While she is a high ranking judge for Fulton county, when you talk to her it feels like you are talking to a friend. She is very honest and blunt in her answers which are both surprising and excellent qualities for a judge to have. I was expecting Adams to talk more like a politician but her answers were very matter of fact and this was wonderfully refreshing. Judge Adams personality seems to create a positive environment wherever she is. I was somewhat surprised she enjoyed Law school, bug it makes since considering her positive attitude and strong desire to make a difference.
This was such a cool experience for me, but it felt very surreal. I didn't know much about what the role of a judge would really be like, because most of the time I see it portrayed very dramatically on TV (judge Judy). Really liked how she talked about how fair she was because she was talking about how unlike some other judges, she would never show a bias towards anyone. It was interesting how she talked about how a woman on the stand thought that she would sympathize with her just because they're both female, but that that really isn't the case. I also thought it was interesting how the police officers had to stand by when she had her robe on, but when she took it off they were free to leave. It felt super surreal to me because the room didn't seem all that special. I don't really know what I was expecting, but it's just kind of crazy to think about how such impactful decisions can be made in that room. It was also interesting walking into the little jail cells that they had on the side of the room. That was kind of weird to me, because the man who was on trial there it was sitting in that room the whole time without me knowing until the end.
ReplyDelete1. I missed a little bit too because I went to use the restroom, them BAM everyone moved and sat on the other side of the room. The judge was now there and discussing her life. She mentioned how she got the job from being called on by her predecessor(her self portrait was in the courtroom!) She talked about her motivations, her mother, etc.
ReplyDelete2. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting a judge multiple times during middle school (my history teacher’s mother was a judge in the same building, named Amy Totenberg). Back then, we sat through a practice arson trial, so I’ve already had that experience. Still though, we weren’t able to learn as much as we did from Judge Adams. Friday, I got to learn a lot more I hadn’t known before about judges. I was very glad Judge Adams checks on both victims and convicts who simply made a bad decision. She admitted that she couldn’t do it for everyone, but I think it’s a good gesture to try and help these people. She stressed the importance of equity, which is different from equality. It seems that she’s fair and thoughtful when factoring in equity, but if I were a judge I would probably favor equality in more cases. Equity can be subjective, so while it’s a good thing with Judge Adams, it might not always be the best in general. Judge Adams really made it clear how much weight a crime can have on the victims and those accused. The camp creek marketplace car fire(coincidentally near where I live) was a prime example of this; the driver got 40 years in jail with parole. She doesn’t support capital punishment, and tries best to avoid it. Overall, I would prefer Judge Adams to be my judge if I had a court case. I know the trial and sentence would be as fair as possible.
When Judge Adams talked about if she regretted any decisions she has made throughout her career, she said no. That really struck me and made me think about other judges. The courtroom his the place that either makes you or breaks you. Many of people's lives have been ruined because of the judge. I understand her reasoning for her not regretting any of her decisions. When you are a judge, you have this huge responsibility of decision making. I feel like if she makes a decision and that decision turns out to be the wrong decision, it might eat her alive in the future. As a judge you have to be certain with your decision. If she regrets her decisions in the long run, her regret might interfere with the decisions she makes in future cases. Also in order to become a judge, you have to be a lawyer for at least seven years. That takes a lot of dedication. That just shows the passion Judge Adams has. Before you and Rick got there, she was talking about how she knew that she was going to be a lawyer. Even at a young age. Growing up with younger siblings she would always advocate for them.
ReplyDelete1. One thing you guys missed about Judge Adams’ talk was how she got to where she is now. She told us she always wanted to be a judge, and that this opportunity opened up when someone that she knew told her that she would be retiring. After getting that news, she immediately took advantage of that and got the job.
ReplyDelete2. Overall, I really enjoyed the talk with Judge Adams. When she first came in, I was a bit intimidated because she said “all rise” with a serious face. Although, after she began to talk, I felt more comfortable. She was really honest and open with us. I expected her to be kind of stern because that’s all I see on TV when I watch Judge Judy or Judge Mathis. One of the things that stood out was her conversation about being bias. She basically said that she is not bias and the main reason is because she knows what it feels like to be discriminated against, especially being black and a woman. From this, I feel confident that her decisions are as fair as possible. She definitely changed my views on judges. I expected most judges to just be doing the job because they want to have all the power in a situation, but Judge Adams was really passionate about her job. Hearing that she always wanted to be a judge since she was a little kid made me believe that she is actually serious about her job.