Readers here in Polk County, I feel like we have a problem in our court system.
It is a question that I think all of us can agree on is one that cuts to the core of whether we can, as citizens, be able to believe that a rigid standard of fairness and interpretation of the law is being provided and upheld.
Not particularly because of any one case, or anyone particular scandal. It is a collection of issues in which one Judge sits at the center of complaints from citizens, officials at the state level, and now a former employee.
I find myself wondering what I should say in moments like this, what exactly I might add to the conversation that would do any good at all for individuals to better understand what is happening.
Yet I don’t think you need my help to get what is going on with the courts. We have Tallapoosa Circuit Superior Court Judge Meng Lim seeking another term in office while at the same time facing questions over his conduct since he took over on the bench in 2015.
The Judicial Qualification Commission’s hearing coming up in January aside, Judge Lim also faces yet another problem with the drug court after losing the latest coordinator via resignation this month as well.
The coordinator left and provided fresh allegations that while trying to get better services from a contractor overseeing much of day-to-day involvement with drug court participants, Judge Lim instead was willing to let a number of violations go unchecked despite it violating several of the requirements for a grant being used to pay for the services.
There are additional things I know and can’t say for various reasons, much of those to do with the nature of speaking with sources confidentially.
But I can tell you this: it’s not just about the JQC, or the Drug Court, or the fact that Jimmy Blackmon was allowed to be released on bond to house arrest on murder charges – the same house where the crime was committed.
It is all of these things combined and more that make me question whether Judge Lim is the guy we want running the Tallapoosa Circuit Superior Court.
I read the comments from local residents upset with decisions that Judge Lim has made in the past. I have thoroughly read the JQC charges and the information that has been presented in response by Judge Lim’s attorney. I have gone through a lot of evidence provided by officials involved in his previous domestic violence arrest that was later dropped by a Haralson County Grand Jury.
I do not pretend to sit in judgment over anyone, at any time for anything they might have done. My job as a reporter and editor is to determine a set of facts and provide those for the public to decide what to make of any given situation when it comes to situations like these. I usually don’t think my opinion on such topics should hold as much water as the facts.
However, in this particular case, I wanted to make my thoughts clear on where I stand and why.
Based on what the JQC has presented thus far publically about the charges Judge Lim faces, it should be up to the statewide body to make a case and let the Supreme Court decide the fate of the Tallapoosa Circuit Chief Judge. If justice is to be served the way it should be, Judge Lim has every right to avail himself of the same rules that apply to the defendants and prosecutors who face him in the courtroom.
However, should the JQC and the Supreme Court not follow up after the hearing with any form of sanctions if not removed from office, then I think voters need to send a clear message on how they feel about Judge Lim.
The law should apply equally to everyone, and those who sit on the bench should be no different than the people who look up and expect to be treated fairly in court no matter their station or circumstances in life.
In this particular case, appearance is also as important as fact. If it appears that the system in which we rely upon to dispense justice fairly even has the stink of corruption around it because of an individual or people who pass down judgments, then the system itself cannot be trusted by those who come before the bar in any capacity.
That is something the system can’t tolerate because it is the sort of thing that takes us down a dark and ugly road I don’t think would serve any kind of justice at all.
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