TEXAS LAWYER, Sept. 25, 2000 BENCHMARKS: IN SESSION Juvenile Court Judge Finds Peace of Mind by JOHN COUNCIL |
Just across the Trinity River, miles away from downtown Dallas'
legal epicenter, is a government building where most of the city's heartbreaking
cases are heard. On a daily basis, lawyers, judges and caseworkers inside the
Henry Wade Juvenile Justice Center examine the details of unfathomable crimes,
from 15-year-old murderers who kill for a few dollars to parents who sexually
abuse their children.
Since 1987, 304th District Judge Hal Gaither has
sat in judgment of both parents and children accused of mind-numbing depravity
as one of Dallas County's two juvenile court judges. Somehow, he's managed to be
at peace with himself.
"You learn to leave it all at the office," Gaither
says. "If you don't it will kill you."
It's easy to see why. Juvenile
judges have incredible power over other people's lives. But with that power
comes a mandate to make some rather unpleasant decisions.
Juvenile judges
decide whether a child accused of a crime will be adjudicated in the juvenile
system where rehabilitation is the focus, or sent through the adult system where
hope is usually abandoned at the penitentiary gates.
And they decide
whether children taken from their parents by Child Protective Services will
remain with the family or be placed elsewhere, sometimes in state care -- an
option few concede is the best place to raise a child.
The easiest way to
sleep at night, Gaither says, is to keep one thing in mind while making
decisions on matters such as CPS removals. "You've got to focus on who is the
most important person in the courtroom," he says. "And that's the
kid."
Protests and Press
Because of the subject material Gaither
handles, it naturally draws the press to his courtroom.
In the early
1990s, there was considerable news coverage involving the case of an Albanian
Muslim couple whose two children were removed and placed in a Christian home.
The father was accused of fondling his daughter at a public event but was
acquitted of sexual abuse charges. Yet during a civil trial in Gaither's
court, a jury decided the couple's children should be removed from the
home.
The case brought protests by Muslims outside the juvenile
courthouse and unfavorable press for Gaither. Some press reports questioned
whether what was alleged to be molestation by the father may have actually been
an accepted form of affection in Albanian culture.
"There was no cultural
defense," Gaither says. "That was a jury trial. It was absolutely the right
thing to do," he says of the removal proceeding. "They wanted me to apologize,"
Gaither says. "But there was nothing to apologize for."
At the time,
Gaither defended the proceedings in his courtroom in a letter to the editor in
The Dallas Morning News, stating that he wasn't anti-Islamic.
He later
went on the offensive, suing the ABC news program "20/20" for libel after they
aired a show in 1996 featuring the case with a lead-in that Gaither says
incorrectly stated that he felt the Muslim children would be "better off in a
Christian home."
"I never said that," Gaither says. His civil suit ended
in a confidential settlement, Gaither says.
In 1998, the press was in
Gaither's court again covering the case of a 17-year-old high school wrestler
from an affluent North Dallas suburb who allegedly gouged the eyes of another
teen during a fight. The victim was left partially blind. But after a jury hung
during deliberations, lawyers took the case to Gaither to assign
punishment.
Instead of sending the teen to the Texas Youth Commission as
the prosecution had wanted, Gaither sent him to a military school in
Pennsylvania.
Once again, Gaither's sentence was debated in the editorial
pages of newspapers, some noting that the punishment may have been too light. As
usual, Gaither didn't back off his decision, even in the face of public
scrutiny.
"He's done extremely well up there," Gaither says of the
juvenile. "I'm sure the right thing was done in that case."
Practicing in
the 304th
After 13 years on the bench, Gaither doesn't mind sharing his
opinions with lawyers. In fact, lawyers expect him to.
"He is not one to
mince words. He's going to tell you what he believes but he does it with
judicial demeanor," says Robert James Herrera, a Dallas solo who splits his
practice as a master in the juvenile court. "You're going to get a fair hearing
and if he goes against you he's going to tell you why. But if he goes against
you, he's going to do it professionally."
Gaither was Gov. George W.
Bush's chief adviser during the 1996 rewrite of the juvenile code, an effort
that dropped the age a juvenile can be certified as an adult to 14. But it also
expanded the determinate sentencing statutes (offenses that usually involve
violent crime) to keep minors in juvenile detention for longer periods of time
instead of sending them to adult prison.
Gaither sticks by the tenets of
the law he helped create. Very few juveniles are certified as adults in
Gaither's court - about 30 per year by his estimation. Although the prosecution
decides whether to seek adult certification, Gaither says prosecutors know what
he'll certify, so they don't ask unless it's a worthy case.
But as a
former juvenile prosecutor with nearly 10 years' experience, Gaither is quick to
certify a juvenile as an adult in cases involving violent offenses - especially
if the juvenile poses a danger to society, lawyers say.
However, Gaither
listens to lawyers' suggestions on sentencing matters in unusual cases.
"If I have a case where my child needs extraordinary help - something that the
probation department doesn't provide -- he's very creative," Herrera says.
"There are situations where the recommendation would be for the Texas Youth
Commission and if it's not a determinate sentencing case if there is some
potential for that child - he'll see that in the report and refer them to other
placement."
In CPS removal cases, it doesn't matter if the parents are
from high-toned North Dallas or impoverished South Dallas, they will be treated
the same by Gaither, lawyers say.
"You're dealing with kids from all
walks of life and parents from all walks of life. He gives folks the benefit of
the doubt," says Allison Sartin, a former Dallas juvenile prosecutor who is now
in private practice. "I don't think he prejudges cases. I think a lot of folks
who walk in for the first time see him as a hard-line judge. But he's actually
very sensitive."
But there are some types of parents that Gaither has no
patience for, Sartin says.
"I think he has a firm conviction that you
can't be a drug user and an effective parent at the same time. He doesn't have
much tolerance for parents who are drug abusers," Sartin says.
"He's seen
thousands and thousands of cases and he sees the same pattern," she says. "He's
not going to subject a child to that kind of environment."
Hanging It
Up
On alternate Sundays, Gaither hosts an evening call-in talk show on
Dallas' KRLD 1080 AM radio called "Ask The Judge." Yet few callers ask Gaither
about juvenile law, the subject he knows best.
Because Texas juvenile law
is a combination of criminal law, family law and civil law, Gaither says he's
prepared for most sorts of questions.
He says the same for lawyers who
practice in his court. "I tell lawyers who practice here, 'If you can try a good
juvenile case, you can practice anywhere,' "Gaither says. "And that's
true."
On Dec. 31, 2002, Gaither will hang up his robe for the last time
and walk out of the juvenile courthouse for good.
Gaither says he figures
15 years is a long enough time to be a judge. And he says he told his political
supporters that his fourth campaign would be his last.
"I just let
everybody know this is it," Gaither says. "It's time to smell the roses, I've
had a good life."
"I just hope the next person who gets this job loves
juvenile law and wants to make a difference."
Judge Harold C. "Hal"
Gaither Jr.
304th District Court
Dallas County
Age: 62
First elected
to bench: 1986
Dos and Don'ts
Do pull out all of the stops
representing a client. Gaither respects that in an attorney.
Don't rely
too much on psychoanalysis as evidence in a case. Actions speak louder that
words with Gaither and if a client has demonstrated good behavior, that means
more to the judge than the text of a report.
Don't lie in court. Gaither
will waste no time sending either witnesses or lawyers to jail.
Do take
your case to the jury instead of the judge in a child-removal case if your
client is a parent who has a demonstrated history of sexual or drug abuse.
Gaither doesn't think highly of parents with that kind of past.
Don't ask
for a continuance. Gaither will give lawyers a trial on any date they want. But
he expects them to stick to that date.
Do ask Gaither about the wishbone
offense. He's a former college football radio commentator who covered the
now-defunct Southwest Conference.
Copyright 2000, Texas Lawyer. All
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