because I felt I could be of more service to my community serving as a prosecutor, having discretion, as opposed to sending folk away or warehousing folk. I was the type of prosecutor who would go back into the cell with the Mama, the son and the attorney and I’d be like, "Look, we’ve got you on video tape, we’ve got you on audio. We can go to trial and you can get 15 years, or you can take this deal and get 7 right now." I wanted to exercise that discretion and help folk and better my community which is why I left the public defender’s office and went to the district attorney’s office. I wanted to advance in my career, so I went to Georgia Power. I struggled because I was not in the community. I was not doing what I loved, which was serving. I had the opportunity to serve as a community juvenile court judge, and I continued to apply for judgeships until this opportunity came. I honed my ability to serve, and to strategically develop programs and to implement them successfully, through the opportunities I got from a Morehouse Man, Paul Howard. When I came here, no other judge wanted to handle DUIs, I said ’give it to me. I can make it work’. So I used those skills to make the system better, and in doing that, it’s easy, particularly when you love something, it’s not taxing on you. Serving is something that I’m serious about and my driver is knowing that if you can make someone’s life better, why not? My driver is contributing to the fullest to help somebody. You know that art rendering where there are three levels, where there are folk on three levels, but on each level you have folk pulling each other up? I first saw that at Morehouse, when I started back in ’89. It’s incumbent upon me to give back and to try to make a way that’s achievable for folk that’s
coming behind us. To the extent I can, I try to be of assistance to anybody that needs some help. This is all about helping folk, and paying it forward. WAMM: Please tell me about the significance of Clarence Cooper. CW: Clarence Cooper started off in this court. He was told by the governor at the time that the only way he would become a judge was if he was elected, so he ran and won. He was the first African American superior court judge elected in Fulton County. He was also appointed to the Court of Appeals. Then Jimmy Carter appointed him to the federal bench at the Richard Russell Building. Judge Cooper is a trailblazer and a mentor of mine. WAMM: If a student at Morehouse says ’hey, I want to be a judge’. What would you suggest he does to prepare? What general advice would you give them on that path to a career in law? CW: A lot of reading and a lot of writing. Clear concise writing. Try to put yourself on each side of an issue to develop critical, unbiased thinking and understand that you can’t delegate excellence. No one can do that for you. Anything that you do over a period of time, if you put your time in on the front end, it will work out in the end. Tap into your resources and understand that the folk that you are in school with will be there for years to come, not just a 30 year homecoming. Tap into the network that’s rich at Morehouse. Treat people well. You’ll need them and they’ll need you. WAMM: What is a career highlight and a life highlight? CW: A career highlight is first being appointed a judge. Not knowing what to expect. When I was appointed a juvenile court judge, I was able to make a
difference in the lives of young black men. There was a time when those kids would walk into the courtroom and they would tap the deputy and ask, ’Is this for real?’ because they couldn’t believe that a young looking black man could be the judge. I benefitted from being at the right place at the right time. My career was greatly influenced by Morehouse Men; Tom Sampson, Woody Sampson, Mr. Howard, A.M. Davis, E.B. Williams and all of the guys that I’ve had a chance to meet since that time. I think my biggest career highlight was that time I was sworn in as a pro-bono judge because of what I was able to experience afterwards. A personal highlight is looking back over the years and know that I’ve been with the same young lady for 29 years, side by side. Spelman graduate, former judge, attorney, stand alone woman. The fact that we have stood the test of time and continue to do so each and every day, I don’t have a more notable highlight than my wife. I’m a simple man. I’m big on loyalty and family and I wouldn’t have that if I didn’t have her.
Judge Chris Ward and his wife Judge Meka Ward
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