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Elections and Politics

Nabilah Islam’s Run for Congress, District 7 [Podcast]

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Nabilah Islam

Summary:

On this episode of Peachtree Corners life, Rico Figliolini live streams with Congressional Candidate, Nabilah Islam to talk about her life, her family, and her campaign. Listen in as she shares her thoughts on the coronavirus, immigration reform, Medicare for all, and much more.

Resources:
Website: ​www.NabilahForCongress.com
Social Media:
https://www.facebook.com/NabilahForCongress
https://www.instagram.com/nabilahforga07/
@NabilahforGA07

“I talk about how we need comprehensive immigration reform, how we need a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented people in this country. We actually have the highest number of DACA recipients in Gwinnett County, in the entire state… I believe that they should be protected and they should have a pathway to citizenship as well. You know, these folks are our neighbors. These folks are startups, small businesses, and go to school with our children. So I feel like they should have a pathway to citizenship.”

NAbilah Islam

Timestamp:

[00:00:30] – Intro [00:03:27] – Nabilah’s Campaign History
[00:05:21] – More about Nabilah
[00:08:26] – Issues Nabilah is Fighting for
[00:09:02] – Her Opinions on the Handling of COVID-19
[00:11:38] – Immigration Reform
[00:15:40] – Medicare for All
[00:18:01] – More on Immigration
[00:21:41] – Education
[00:27:17] – The Presidential Race
[00:28:32] – Virtual Campaigning
[00:33:44] – Closing

Rico: [00:00:30] Hi everyone. This is Rico Figliolini, host of Peachtree Corners Life. I appreciate you guys joining us on this live stream shooting. Shooting, well, the streaming video streaming out of Peachtree Corners, the City of Peachtree Corners, one out. Before we get into it and tonight’s guests want to just say, you know, be safe out there. Do what you are supposed to be doing. We’re supposed to be making sure that we’re not putting ourselves out there and letting us house via community hall. And I’m sure if you have it, if you don’t have it, you don’t want to catch it. Coronavirus is a real deadly pandemic and we should take this seriously. And in the coming days it looks like it’s going to be even more serious, in the next 48 hours. We may even see this country locked down to a degree. I mean, they’re moving towards that, right? And so the States have already done it. So sheltering in place in the Northern California, Northern Bay area for three weeks is mandatory, for example. So it’s not beyond reason for us to see something like that happen on a national scale, which it probably needs to, because otherwise we’re just reinfecting everyone as we cross state lines. So it’s a good place to be. So I want to introduce one of our sponsors, Hargray Fiber. I want to say thank you to them for being a sponsor here. They are the backbone of one of the biggest places and icons in Peachtree Corners, which is Curiosity Lab at Peachtree Corners. It’s a one and a half mile mobile track that is open to anyone to bring in their experiments, data, cars, anything that has to do with mobility, IOT to be able to use that track in a living lab. 5G enabled, the ability to do your work and discover how your product or service can do really well. So the backbone of that, but actually bringing in the internet through that, through for the 5G enabled set up is Hargray Fiber. So I just wanna do a shout out to them. HargrayFiber.com was where you can find them. So let’s get to my guest tonight. We’ll bring it right on. There you go. So my guest today Nabilah Islam, she is a candidate for Congress, District Seven. A couple of weeks ago we, interviewed Carolyn Burdell and, now Nabila Islam is another candidate in that race. So welcome Nabila.

Nabilah: [00:02:56] Rico, thank you so much for having me today, I appreciate it.

Rico: [00:02:59] Sure. Appreciate you coming on, especially with things going on. So how was your day today?

Nabilah: [00:03:05] Well, you know, I am being diligent about practicing social distancing in our campaign. I suspended all in-person campaigning. So I’ve just been virtually working with my staff and virtually campaigning and doing this podcast virtually as well. So, to be able to communicate with voters and make sure that we’re still getting our message out.

Rico: [00:03:27] Right, now you’ve been involved in campaigns before. You said, what type of campaigns have you been involved in?

Nabilah: [00:03:34] I’ve worked on all sorts of campaigns. I actually got very interested in working on campaigns when, you know, growing up in Gwinnett County, I just felt like I never saw anyone that reflected the diversity of this County or the values that we have. And so I got right out of college, I worked on a city council campaign for a candidate named Andre Dickens. And he was a long time candidate and he ran a grassroots campaign and he was able to
overtake an incumbent. And I worked for Jason Carter when he ran for governor back in 2014. And then on a presidential race, I worked for Secretary Clinton when she ran for president. And then most recently I was at the Democratic National Committee, the DNC, to help rebuild a party after we lost to Donald Trump.

Rico: [00:04:23] All within the congressional district that you’re in now or in various parts?

Nabilah: [00:04:29] In various parts. I did work, one of my first democratic campaigns was for Pedro Marine, House Democrat. He was, at the time, the only Latino Democrat in the entire state legislature and his district had recently been gerrymandered, and he was losing his seat. And I knocked on doors on his campaign, knocked on 2000, over 2000 doors, and luckily he won his reelection. So I did that. And, I also, rechartered the Gwinnett County Young Democrats back in 2013. I realized that there wasn’t a leadership pipeline for young people to get involved. So I opened up that channel. And since then, several people from that group have either gone on to become elected officials themselves or they have actually managed campaigns. So I’m very proud of that organization.

Rico: [00:05:21] Cool. So tell us a little bit more about yourself, also personal and a little bit, where are you from education wise and all that too.

Nabilah: [00:05:28] Sure. So I’m the daughter of working class immigrants from Bangladesh. And so both my parents, you know, moved to this country to seek the American Dream. My mother actually grew up in a small village in Bangladesh, in a tin-hut home with, you know, mud floor, no running water, no electricity. And they worked really hard to give me and my brother a life that they never had. And you know, I attended Gwinnett County schools all my life. I’m a proud central Gwinnett High School graduate. I actually grew up in Norcross where one of my mother’s first jobs was working at the Hardee’s off of Steve Reynolds. So she worked there until I was five years old. And, she worked at a warehouse for over a decade. And I actually grew up in Lawrenceville where I mentioned, I graduated from central Gwinnett High School. And I actually went to Georgia State University, got a degree in marketing, and became the first person in my family to graduate from college. And so, my family was very education oriented and either wanted me to become a doctor, an engineer, or a lawyer right out of college. And I did none of those things. But I thought it was very important to, to have a voice at the table and to, you know, jump into political campaigns because I feel like that’s where so many of the decisions are made that affect our lives on a day to day basis. And so I thought that work was very important.

Rico: [00:06:52] Well, what do you think inspired you to go down that road? Because politics is not, everyone thinks that young people are more politically oriented to a degree. Sanders certainly thought that, but they’re not, they’re not showing up for his campaign, unfortunately, at least this time around, it seems. So what, what inspired you? I mean, someone? An event? What got you there?

Nabilah: [00:07:12] You know, I often get asked that question and I always say, think back to the time that my mother actually took me to Bangladesh and you know, took me to the village she grew up in when I was five and seven years old. And being such a young child, you know, I grew up in America. I was born in Atlanta and I had never seen abject poverty like that. And like, you know, I had cousins who had holes in their clothes. I had, they were, you know, taking showers in dirty water. Their water had arsenic in it. It was like, it was a lot for my little child-like mind. And I remember learning at the time that the president of Bangladesh was a Bengali woman that looked like me. And I told my mom when I was a little kid, I was like, when I grow up, I want to be just like her so that I can be able to help poor people. Well, and of course I can’t run for office in Bangladesh because I wasn’t born there. But I’ve carried that on into my life as an adult. And for me, I think it’s so important to show compassion. To show love and compassion to your community and to be there for your neighbor. And, that’s why I think I’ve gotten really involved in political campaigns and wanting to make sure that everyone has a voice at the table.

Rico: [00:08:26] Now you, a lot of your issues that you talked about are the, anyone that wants to know more about you can go to NabilahforCongress.com where they can find the issues that you’ve talked about and quite a few of them mirror of Sanders issues, right? Medicare for all, immigration reform, economic equality. Actually you believe in universal basic income, I believe or no?

Nabilah: [00:08:54] I believe right now we need some emergency universal basic income. So families need relief during this coronavirus pandemic.

Rico: [00:09:02] What do you think? How do you feel about what’s going on now with the legislation that’s going through Congress and in the Senate, this relief package. Writing a check and making sure it gets out there. Minutian kept saying it needs to be this week, tomorrow. I mean, they want to be able to send $1,000 to every family. At least every family that’s not a millionaire let’s hope cause they don’t need the money. What do you feel about that package? So these specific things in there that, that you liked, that you don’t like, that you would do differently.

Nabilah: [00:09:35] So I’ve seen various versions of what people have wanted for a relief package. I think that it’s the right thing to do to give relief to the American people, especially working people who are suffering from the economic downturn because of this pandemic. So many people are being laid off. They’re losing jobs. They don’t know how they’re going to pay their mortgage. They don’t know how they’re going to pay their health insurance. My own mother was actually laid off two days ago from her job. I mean, she called me up saying, if you, I don’t know, like, I don’t know how I’m going to survive, basically. And so I think it’s the right thing to do to offer relief. Now, you know, if it’s $1,000 a month for a working person, you know, I’ve heard people tell me that, you know, that’s not enough. I don’t know if I’ll be, my rent is higher than that. And so we’re gonna have to figure out ways in how we provide relief to people so that they don’t have to suffer or go into debt because of this pandemic.

Rico: [00:10:32] Yeah. I don’t know if the third guy, actually, unless I misunderstood, it’s just a thousand dollar check. Unless they’ve changed this. I know Sanders had said there should be $2,000 a month until we get through with this. I don’t know if that’s the doable thing. But this would be a good enough reason to go further into debt, I would imagine to be able to do that.

Nabilah: [00:10:55] I think this pandemic is going to be longer than a month. I was just listening to Governor Cuomo. He did a podcast on the daily where he seems to think that we’re at, this pandemic is going to peak in 45 days. It’s going to get worse before it gets better. And so, I’m afraid that because of our late, you know, figuring out solutions, coming to this problem late in the game, later in the game, is making it so that it’s gonna take longer for us to recover. So I think families are unfortunately probably going to be hurting for more than a month.

Rico: [00:11:38] Yeah, no, for sure. I mean, they’ve been talking about it. As far as the effects of it, at least as far as 18 months and maybe waves of, of it coming back at us, especially when we reopen the borders. If that’s the case, and travel begins again, you know, we may see this come back again. People coming from different parts of the world. I mean, they may be bringing it with them. I mean, so what about the issue of, in fact, let’s talk a little bit about that immigration reform, closing the borders, doing different things. I mean, obviously I’m assuming you’re not for what Donald Trump has done. How would you handle that, that side of it? Cause the, we do, we should have borders right?

Nabilah: [00:12:26] Yes, no I agree that we should have borders. We’re a sovereign nation. Now as far as… We’re asking people that are abroad that are Americans to come home soon. I think that we are going to have to monitor the situation very, very closely, in making sure that people that are coming into the country aren’t carrying more cases of the Coronavirus. And so, I saw that they started testing, earlier this week. In making sure that people didn’t test positive.

Rico: [00:13:32] Fine, immigration. I mean, certainly, you know, being a, you’re running for Congress, you’ll be one out of hundreds of them. Some of them may be leaving. I mean, there’s so many, I don’t know how many of them have caught the Coronavirus already at this point. It seems at least two, if not three. And they’re, you know, quantitating the…

Nabilah: [00:13:56] I know that we have one in the State Legislature.

Rico: [00:14:00] I’m sorry?

Nabilah: [00:14:00] I know that one of our State Senators has the Coronavirus.

Rico: [00:14:04] Yes, I saw that too. So I mean, no one’s immune to this. Anyone can get this, that everyone’s going to get really sick from it. Not everyone’s going to need a ventilator. I think that says something about 2% of the population that gets it may get to that point. It’s a
possibility. So I mean, there will be a lot more deaths as well as we go out, because unfortunately that’s the nature of the beast right now.

Nabilah: [00:14:34] No, I was just saying, no I agree with you. I think what we need to do is ramp up testing. I think a lot of people are carrying the coronavirus and don’t know it, because they’re asymptomatic. And we need an upper testing significantly to identify who has it and who doesn’t so that they can properly softcore team.

Rico: [00:14:51] What would you say to the young people out there that are on the Florida beaches now? They’re not all young down there also, you know, thirties and forties down there. Which could be younger but, what would you say to them?

Nabilah: [00:15:04] I would say go home, stay home. I think young people have this notion that they’re invincible, that you’re young and what they don’t. What more of these folks need to understand is that you could be carrying this virus without even knowing it and passing it onto someone that is elderly whose immune system would be compromised and therefore die. And that’s what we’re seeing in Italy is that 90% over 95% of the people there that have died in the coronavirus is 60 years or older. So be mindful of others. Please.

Rico: [00:15:40] Yeah. Those are attacks I can say, cause my heritage is Italian, but they love to kiss and hug, and that’s probably how they spread it really fast. All right, let’s get on to Medicare for all you know, that’s obviously, you know, one of the comebacks that someone said about Italy’s that it’s a, this was in, is a debate with Bernie Sanders, is that Italy has pretty much Medicare for all, right? And yet their exposure to it was greater than any other Western nation outside, you know, from China certainly. So, and that, that’s climbing there. Did it work? That network, is that even relevant? Is that the same thing or is it something different?

Nabilah: [00:16:25] So I, you know, I have heard of that and I will say that it depends where you’re implementing the system. Like, cultures are different. For example, in Italy, families live together. You live with your parents. There are, there’s more density. And so when one person gets sick in the household, it spreads to everyone. And so what, and then there’s an older, Italy has the oldest population in Europe. And so, I mean, they were just, it was a perfect storm for that virus to come in and wreak havoc. I think the single payer healthcare system in America would address the fact that so many people are losing their jobs right now no longer have access to healthcare because they can’t afford it, because their health insurance was tied to their employer. This is, you know, people are understanding why this is a problem. And in this district, about 20%, you know 130,000 folks don’t have health care, including myself. And, it’s particularly dangerous. It’s really dangerous now because folks are terrified of getting this virus because yes, testing is free. But like treatment could run up into the thousands. You know, the medical debt, two thirds of medical debt. In this country, people go into debt because two thirds of it is from medical debt. And so, it’s a huge issue and I think Medicare for all will address it. Two-thirds of families go bankrupt because of medical debt.

Rico: [00:18:01] Do you think, well the debate with some people is, there are about 11 to 12 million illegal immigrants in the United States. That number varies out a bit, depending on which side of the aisle you’re on and who you are. But we know that there’s millions and certainly probably over 10 million. They, likely not, don’t have enough money to go to the hospital. They likely will not go to the hospital, especially with what’s going on with ICE and all that lately, especially in States that support, you know, the support, that aspect of it and that, that I understand is being suspended. Now, ICE will not do that. And at this point, supposedly the suspended going after, immigrants that are not felons or not related to arrests. So then they’re going out searching at this point, at least this is what I understand from CNN. So at some degree, you know, everyone has to verify the facts, I guess. But, you know, the fact is that they don’t, you know, that’s where the problem is too, right? Cause if you, you can’t get the test if you have it and you don’t know and you’re not able to go to the hospital, you’re spreading it. Great, so having a system in place makes sense then. I’ve always argued that whether, and people always say, especially Republicans, might say, well, they’re illegals, they shouldn’t have it, and I always said, well, then we’ll have a pandemic at some point because they will not be able to go to the hospital. Makes sense. You have a fear, may not want to be able to go. So there’s some of that, aside from the young people in Florida that just can’t get it together, they think that they’re, that they’re immortal. Where else can you go with immigration? I mean, at this point it takes years. I mean, I met someone that his whole family from, I think it was Argentina, they had applied like eight years ago, nine years ago, and nine years later to get the approval to come as a family and they had to wait nine years. Does that make any sense?

Nabilah: [00:20:16] No, it doesn’t. My mom actually sponsored her older sister and all of my cousins that I saw when I was a little girl in the village, and it took them about 11, 12 years. And so we have a very complicated immigration system. We need to simplify it. Families shouldn’t have to wait that long to reunify. I, and I think that, you know, this district is one of the most diverse districts in the country. Gwinnett itself is the fourth most diverse County in the country. And when I talk about immigration reform, I talk about how we need comprehensive immigration reform, how we need a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented people in this country. We actually have the highest number of DACA recipients in Gwinnett County, in the entire state. And so, you know, I believe that these people that grew up just like me, you know, probably came to this country when their parents brought them at one or two. I went to school with a lot of them. I remember, you know, they would, you know, we would talk about how they were going to figure out how, Oh, you’re going to go to college. And like they were just as American as me. It was just heartbreaking that my life had a different trajectory than theirs, but I believe that they should be protected and they should have a pathway to citizenship as well. You know, these folks are our neighbors. These folks are, you know, startups, small businesses, and go to school with our children. So I feel like they should, they should have a pathway to citizenship.

Rico: [00:21:41] All right. Talking about children and talking about education, I mean, part of what you say is that the education, I think is, we all agree is a great equalizer. It puts that benchmark. We’re all there. I mean, money does help in many ways. Colleges you attend,
whether it’s private or public, does help being around the different financial level of people does help right to a degree. I’ve heard that all the time. Well, and you see it in movies, popular movies to Harvard. If you attend Harvard, you’re expected to start a business, right? And if you attend Kennesaw state or a GSU, you know, would you say the same thing. You know, so from which school? My son went there also. He commuted, he did his graduate work and graduated from there. Education can be different for different people, right? Cause you, you get all, you want to be one thing, you graduate and then you end up doing something else. And yet you’re saddled with the debt of the institution, right? Whether it’s $20,000 or it’s $100,000. So how would you handle that? I mean, do you believe in free education, state and state in public schools? Do you believe in forgiveness of debt and a few forgiveness of that someone has to pay for that, right? It just doesn’t go away. Mythically I mean, tell me.

Nabilah: [00:23:18] I, like you said, like I, and I’ve, I think I’ve got it on my website, is that education is one of the greatest equalizers, and I believe that everyone should be afforded the opportunity to you know, have a good education. So right now you have a free education from K – 12. I believe that we can make that from K – 16. So yes, I believe that, I believe in free college. and I also believe that, you know, we have about one point 4 trillion in student debt. If people are saddled with that. I myself am saddled with $30,000 in college debt as well. I’m running full time for Congress. So this is, this is literally my full time job. And in order to do it, because running for office is cost prohibitive. It’s, the system’s not really designed for working people to run. And I put my college loans into four prayers, which basically means that I’m accruing interest. And then I will have to, at the end of my forbearance period, we will be paying more. And I think what’s happening, I’ve been talking to my peers, and all throughout the district it’s pretty, this is actually a pretty young district. So the average age in Gwinnett is 35. And, you know, they’ve been telling me that they’ve been putting off starting, you know, families, they’ve been putting off buying homes. And this is not, this is not something that’s unique here. This is something that is affecting, you know, our generation all over the country. With that being said, I, you know, our government has you know, spent trillions of dollars. For example, our president spent about $2 trillion for weapons, during the time that we were on the, maybe on the brink of war with Iran. And if you had instead, you know, he could have used that money to forgive, cancel student debt. So the money is, it’s is there when it comes for, you know, war. I think we need to prioritize the budget and, you know, taking care of working people who give so much back to our community.

Rico: [00:25:29] Now you talk about forgiveness of that and no, Bernie talks about that too. I know that back four years ago when you ran, I felt that Bernie-Burn also, even though I’m a Republican here in the South, I used to be a Democrat up in New York. You know, they say when you get older, you buy a house, you have kids. You become a little bit more conservative and stuff. I didn’t really become conservative. I think it just changed my views on some things. But I still do feel about personal responsibility, right? If you take out a loan, you should pay the loan. If we forgive those loans and we go and provide free education should there, there should be certain requirements, right? I mean, I always felt like the hope scholarship was great. If you had a 3.0 and you kept that 3.0 you kept the hope scholarship. You didn’t keep the 3.0 you’d
lose it. Made sense to me, right? If you can’t do the work, then you might as well not be in school. Would there be requirements in what you’re looking at and it, would it be a straight forgiveness of debt? Would that be depending on income? Would that be, what would that be? How would that look?

Nabilah: [00:26:38] So, ideally, I would love to see a plan where we can finally cancel student debt. And I understand that that might take longer. So I’ve seen, you know, as various presidents have and running on different student loan cancellations on certain amounts of that they would allow it to be canceled. I would love to just start the process of being able to forgive student debt. And, we could, you know, perhaps prioritize different career paths in doing so. But eventually I’d love to see the ability for the US Government to be able to cancel the debt overall.

Rico: [00:27:17] With the presidential race going the way it is. I mean, everyone’s doing what you’re doing, right? They’re not, I shouldn’t say everyone, I don’t know. Most people are not in a stadium. I don’t think that Trump will be in one soon. I think he’s gonna do what he’s doing away from it. I think he’s taking this, this whole thing seriously as well at this point. But do you, who would you support? Biden or Bernie? Or whoever the nominee is, if you became…?

Nabilah: [00:27:47] You know, whoever the nominee is. I think, you know, every. It’s understood at this point, that Biden will probably be the likely nominee. And so, you know, I’m going to support whoever the nominee is, vote blue no matter who. With that being said, I am someone who’s, like you mentioned earlier, some of my policies do mirror Senator Sanders in the progressive policies that I’m advocating for. But I feel like we need a different leadership and I’m really hopeful that we will be able to elect a democratic president.

Rico: [00:28:32] What are you finding out there when you’re campaigning? You know, obviously you’re doing virtually now. I don’t know if you’re holding virtual watch parties or what have you been doing inside? What are you doing? How are you doing it virtually?

Nabilah: [00:28:48] You know, campaigning during a pandemic is uncharted territory. You know, it’s something that you can’t really call up someone and be like, Hey, what did you do when this happened? So, we suspended it all, in-person campaigning on person canvassing door to door. I just need to think it was safe for my volunteers or my staff or my community. As this virus is extremely contagious, you know, it is deadly. So we are completely virtual. Now we operate a, I’m doing Google Hangouts with my team every single day. We are doubling down on text banking, phone banking. We’re going to have two virtual town halls that we’re scheduling for next week so that people can essentially meet me via, you know, Skype and be able to ask me any questions that they have. I think nothing can ever replace face to face contact, you know? Earning of someone’s vote and asking for it. But I think with people self-quarantining and being home and being on their phones, and there’s a lot of anxiety about what’s happening, people are paying attention to the news. And I, so we’re going to make sure that we’re communicating with as many voters as possible.

Rico: [00:29:59] So the primary has been pushed out, right? We pushed to May at this point, and I don’t even know if most people understand that the primary that was going to happen this month was really just the presidential primary, the May primary NASC and have the presidential and the local statewide and local races and all that. I don’t know how many people would have known that young people might’ve voted in the primary that tend not to vote on the, on the local level, they tend to vote more national. But now the opportunities there are to be able to vote down that ticket and get what they got on that ticket in one day and through that. So, how you know, and quite a few people, I’ve already done an absentee ballot. No, they’re going to be allowing that to continue on and hopefully they don’t push the primary out past May is anything possible. And even if they don’t, it’s going to be long six foot apart lines of people going to vote. We will encourage people to do absentee ballots. Have you done anything along those lines to help people to enable that to be easier for them?

Nabilah: [00:31:08] So, as you mentioned, the presidential primary has been moved to May 19th. So we’re expecting a much larger turnout, with the presidential and all of our downfall elections. With that being said, I think, you know, I’ve been telling folks that I really think this pandemic is going to get worse before it gets better. I don’t think, I think it would be irresponsible to ask people to wait in, you know, three, four hour lines, you know, crunched together and, you know, I think that would just be a scenario for just spreading the virus. And so, I think, you know, I’ve been hearing that, will most need, well, I’ve been hearing that we’ll probably most likely be moving to a vote by mail. Now that’s nothing permanent, but I feel like a lot of States are moving that way. With that being said, if the state does mail in request, if, you know, if you want to vote by mail, they need to mail it to everyone. Not age group to keep it there.

Rico: [00:32:08] Would you say everyone that’s registered?

Nabilah: [00:32:10] Everyone that’s registered, yes. So I’ve been hearing that, you know, there are thoughts of just sending it to people that are 60 and above. And I think that it should be sent to all registered voters, and so that everyone has equal opportunity to ask for a ballot in, you know, mail it in.

Rico: [00:32:33] We’re, are there any other issues that will be live that you would like to speak about that we haven’t touched on?

Nabilah: [00:32:44] You know, we touched on, I think everyday working class immigrants, and I grew up in Gwinnett County. You know, the majority of my life went to public schools here who work low wage jobs here, as did my parents. And so, you know, this is a working class district and I understand the day to day issues that people are going through at an intimate level. And I think it’s very important that the people that lead us also live among us and understand, you know, our lives. And I also really truly believe that this is a district that deserves to have a reflective representation of our diversity and our values. And that if Democrats want to flip the seat in November, we’re going to need a candidate. And that’s exciting. That brings out young
voters and brings out minority voters and all sorts of folks in it has an inspiring message so that people come out and vote. And, I’m trying to be the voice for this community.

Rico: [00:33:44] Cool. Then let’s end it here. Tell us, ask for the vote. We got one minute to ask for the vote and then tell people where they can find more information about it. Nabilah: [00:33:58] Okay. Well, if you’re watching this, if you liked what you’ve heard, I would love to earn your vote. I’d love to be your first Congresswoman in this district and flip this district blue and represent it with progressive policies that are going to uplift our families in the working community here. You can learn more about my campaign, at my website: www.NabilahForCongress.com​. And I also have very active social media. So check me out on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook: @Nabilahforga07

Rico: [00:34:34] Cool. Stay there for a minute. I just want to sign off with everyone. So I want to thank everyone that’s either watching this live or end up watching this on, during the next four days as we boost this out. And that may find this either on YouTube or as a podcast on iHeartRadio, Spotify, wherever you find this, just rate us on this podcast. If you want to share this, go to the Facebook page Peachtree Corners Life. If you’re not all in there now, and you can share this video out to your friends and let them know about this podcast and about the interview that we’ve done today. So thank you very much and we’ll see you next time.

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City Government

Councilmember Sadd to Host Town Hall Meeting on October 29

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Headshot of a smiling white, male city politician in a suit and tie standing in front of an American flag.

Post 1 Councilmember Phil Sadd is hosting a non-partisan town hall meeting at Winters Chapel United Methodist Church on Tuesday, October 29 at 7 p.m.

The meeting will begin with an update on activities in the City of Peachtree Corners and an overview of plans for future projects.

“The upcoming town hall will not only provide our residents with information and an opportunity to ask questions, but will also allow me to hear directly from them about their concerns and desires for the future of our city,” said Sadd.

Topics to be discussed include:

  • New development/redevelopment
  • Trails and parks
  • Transportation improvement projects
  • November 5 ballot questions
  • Candidates for state and county local seats

An informative public forum

For the upcoming November 5 election, Peachtree Corners voters will have decisions to make on very important local issues. Topics on the ballot include a county-wide transit SPLOST referendum, amendments to the state constitution and the election of local state and county Officials.

 “Unfortunately, there hasn’t been a public forum in Peachtree Corners during this election cycle that covers all these topics,” Sadd stated. “Every voter should have the opportunity to be informed about every item on the ballot, so they fully understand each question they need to answer and each vote they need to make.”

The Town Hall will provide information about these topics, as well as an opportunity to hear from and meet the local state (both senate and house) and county (chairman and commissioner) candidates that are on the ballot.

For more information, visit peachtreecornersga.gov.

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Elections and Politics

Regina Matthews in Run-Off June 18 for Gwinnett Superior Court Judge

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This run-off election decides who will serve on the court.

Magistrate Court Judge Regina Matthews is a candidate for the upcoming June 18th runoff election for Superior Court Judge in Gwinnett County. Regina discusses improving court efficiency by setting deadlines, utilizing magistrates and senior judges, virtual hearings, digitizing processes, and maintaining accurate records. She also discusses challenges like housing insecurity’s impact on crime, accountability courts, and public engagement. The Run-off is Tuesday, June 18th. Host Rico Figliolini.

Resources:
Regina’s Website: 
https://judgematthews.com/

Timestamp:
00:00:00 – Magistrate Judge Regina Matthews on Local Politics
00:01:19 – Importance of Voting in Runoff Elections
00:04:17 – The Varied Responsibilities of Superior Court Judges
00:07:22 – Strategies for Reducing Court Backlogs
00:11:29 – Adapting Court Proceedings to Virtual Platforms
00:14:00 – Addressing Housing Insecurity to Reduce Recidivism
00:17:17 – Housing Scarcity and Mental Health Challenges in the Court System
00:20:19 – Navigating Limited Resources in the Justice System
00:21:59 – Challenges in the Court System: Lack of Resources and Prioritizing Treatment 00:26:32 – Increasing Awareness of Available Services
00:27:51 – Embracing Law Enforcement: Building Community Ties
00:30:20 – Balancing AI Benefits and Risks in the Legal System
00:33:33 – Continuing Accountability Courts and Upholding Judicial Integrity
00:37:09 – Serving with Integrity as a Judge

Podcast Transcript

Transcript:

Rico Figliolini 0:00:01

Hi, everyone. This is Rico Figliolini, host of Peachtree Corners Life, a podcast that talks about politics, culture and all things going on in Peachtree Corners or that affects Peachtree Corners. So I have a great guest today, Regina Matthews. Hey, Regina, thanks for being with us.

Regina Matthews 0:00:17

Thank you for having me. I’m delighted to be here, Rico.

Rico Figliolini 0:00:20

Absolutely. It’s very important, important times here. We just had that primary in May, and you and another candidate are in a runoff June 18.

Regina Matthews 0:00:31

That is correct.

Rico Figliolini 0:00:33

Right. So let me introduce you a little better. Regina’s from Chicago, went to school in South Carolina and ended up here in Georgia going to Emory law school. You’ve been, you live in Lowburn, you have two kids. They both play soccer. You have a dog. You’ve been working actually as a Magistrate judge. And you were appointed by eleven Gwinnett County Superior court judges along with the chief magistrate judge appointed you to this position. I think it was 2020.

Regina Matthews 0:01:02

Correct.

Rico Figliolini 0:01:03

And you’ve been serving in that position ever since. So what I’d like you to do is because most people don’t know what a magistrate judge does, maybe you can tell us a little bit about yourself and what that position actually does. Go ahead.

Regina Matthews 0:01:17

Well, yes, and thank you for that introduction. I am happy to be here. And again, thank you for doing this because I’ll just start off by saying, you know, you mentioned our runoff election, and I know that a lot of people don’t show up to vote in runoff elections historically. So hopefully we will change that. Hopefully people will get out and vote. This is an important election. It is the only county wide election on the ballot. So, you know, if you’re anywhere in Gwinnett, you can vote for this particular race.

Rico Figliolini 0:01:52

Not only that, it’s a nonpartisan race. So what happens here June 18 decides the position does not go to November, does not go into a general election. This is it. If you’re not there to vote for this position between two candidates, you’ve lost your chance to do that. So sorry, I just want to put that out.

Regina Matthews 0:02:12

Thank you for that distinction, because that is an important one. And sometimes people also want to know, like, what ballot do I need to choose in order to vote for judge? It’s on every ballot. Nonpartisan, republican, democratic. But you’re right. If you don’t vote in this runoff, you will miss the opportunity to select who will hold this judicial seat for the next four years. But going back to your question, I do service as a magistrate judge currently in Gwinnett, we have part time magistrates and full time magistrates and there is a distinction in my current role. I was appointed so that I could provide judicial assistance primarily for our superior court judges. But we also, as full time judges, do sometimes sit in our state courts, you know, wherever we’re needed. Juvenile court, probate court, recorders court. We’re sort of the judges that kind of get pulled in different directions. But 95% of my time on the bench is in superior court. So the eleven superior court divisions that I sit for, basically what those judges do, they sign what are called judicial assistance orders. So when a judge meets my assistance, they will issue an order giving me the authority to sit in their courtroom and handle, you know, their caseload. So I hear everything that the elected superior court judges hear. I’ve been designated, I think, at this point two hundred times by our superior court judges. And, you know, we hear primarily family law and felony criminal prosecutions. That comprises about 70% of the caseload in our courts. The other 30% are general civil cases. So it could be anything from an appeal from magistrate court, property tax appeals, unemployment benefit appeals, contract disputes, court actions. I mean, the list is long and extensive, so, you know, but that’s basically what I do every day.

Rico Figliolini 0:04:20

So, basically, it’s fair to say that even though you’re not doing the job of a superior court judge, you’re doing work for them. You’ve been exposed to those cases, you’ve done support work for them, essentially.

Regina Matthews 0:04:36

Correct. That is correct. And what I will say is, you know, it’s an interesting and intense vetting process. When our superior court judges choose, you know, who they want to appoint to these positions, because ideally, you know, they want someone, an attorney who has practiced primarily in the areas that the superior court judges here. So, again, that’s primarily family and criminal. So if you have a background as a practicing attorney in those areas, typically you’re going to be better suited, you know, to serve in superior court. You know, that’s vastly what we do.

Rico Figliolini 0:05:17

And there’s eleven superior court judges in Gwinnett county.

Regina Matthews 0:05:22

That is correct.

Rico Figliolini 0:05:23

And do they handle budgets of the court? Now, do the individual superior court judge handles the budget for their section, if you will, or is it done as consolidated between the eleven?

Regina Matthews 0:05:38

So each of the judges has their own budget, but they are similar budgets, if that makes sense. So it’s not like one judge is going to have a different budget than the other judges. I mean, you have the same amount of money allocated. What happens is, you know, the judges will go to the board of commissioners to make their pitch as to what it is, you know, is needed. So if their budgets need to be increased from year to year, it’s sort of a collective bench decision, or pitch, so to speak, as to establishing what the budget should be. But then the judges have control over the money that’s allocated to them individually.

Rico Figliolini 0:06:20

Okay, so then, so judges are not just sitting on a bench. They’re also doing administrative work. They’re also handling budget requirements and the work through of what needs to be done in a court system, if you will.

Regina Matthews 0:06:37

That is correct. Some of it is administrative, and some of it, you know, I think people tend not to think about this part of the job, but a lot of times, what you’re doing is also, you know, finding out how to effectively manage your cases and, you know, the best and most effective way to handle, you know, disposing of cases in a way that’s responsive, responsible, and responsive to the needs of the people, which is having, you know, efficient resolution of their cases. And so a lot of that, honestly just comes from experience knowing what works and what doesn’t work to kind of move cases along.

Rico Figliolini 0:07:16

Right. So, okay, so we segue into that part of case management, if you will. Not just that, but the backlog, that was exasperated because of COVID I mean, there was backlog before, but it got worse because of COVID So, yeah, so this backlog, case management, how do you handle, what are the strategies that you would use to resolve some of these things? I know from experience, it’s one thing, but what, in effect, would you do to make this better?

Regina Matthews 0:07:47

Right. And I will say, I think that people should know that there are some court divisions that operate without a backlog. People find that hard to believe. And we sort of hear, you know, about this backlog, and it sticks with us, there are some divisions that do have a backlog, but some of them operate without one. I will tell you division five, which is the position or the division that I’m running for. Judge Byers, I will say, and I used to work with her as a staff attorney. So, you know, I know very specifically how she does her case management, but she’s been very effective in scheduling cases. And I always say one of the things you can do as a judge is aggressively schedule cases. And what that means is, you know, when you show up to court and you see a courtroom full of people, that means that judge has probably aggressively scheduled that calendar. So there are some judges who may call in one case or two cases. But if those cases, you know, resolve, and they often do when they come to court, the attorneys talk or the parties talk, and they resolve it right then and there. And then if you’ve only called in one or two cases, for example, then you have the rest of the day gone because you’ve only called in those two cases. So, you know, I think aggressive case calendaring, I think using our mediation services and our courts helps move cases along to resolution so that in many cases, those, you know, lawsuits or disputes don’t even reach us to a trial capacity because they’re resolved earlier on in the litigation. Judges can also issue, particularly in civil cases, case management, or case scheduling orders, which dictate to the attorneys or the parties specific deadlines that they have to meet in order, again, to help move the cases along. Because in some instances, you have cases where motions are filed over and over, and it just prolongs the litigation. But if you give strict deadlines and it makes sure people are, you know, held accountable to those deadlines, again, it keeps the cases moving efficiently. The other thing I think that helps is obviously, courts utilizing, you know, full time magistrates and our senior judges to help manage the cases. There are some judges who use us more than others, but I think anytime you have judges, you know, available who, of course, have been appointed because they have the requisite skills and knowledge to help, you know, hear those cases, I think we need to utilize them. And so those are the things I can think of off the top of my head. And also, I will add, using when you can, technology. We learned, obviously, during COVID that utilizing Zoom video conferencing for some types of hearings can make things move more efficiently as well. Obviously, you can’t do everything on Zoom, but there are some types of hearings that can be handled more efficiently that way.

Rico Figliolini 0:10:51

So let’s stick to the technology for a little bit, because that was a big deal during COVID took a little while to digitize the process, if you will. And now that you have it, you’re right, I can see certain cases itself in court, need to be in court. You need to be able to eye the participants of this. But certain promotions and other things that are administrative motions and stuff can all be done by Zoom, right? Or digital services of a sort.

Regina Matthews 0:11:21

Yeah, I agree. I think when you have, for instance, we hear a lot of motions, particularly in civil cases, where it’s just the attorneys coming to court to argue some issue in the law, and they just want to make a record, you know, to the courts and to argue their position on whatever that legal issue is. And so we’re not hearing evidence. You know, we’re not listening to witnesses. And so those types of hearings, I think, easily could be handled by Zoom or some sort of video conferencing technology. But as you said, other cases, you know, where we are hearing live testimony from witnesses, and we’re receiving a lot of evidence, you know, in the form of documentary evidence, then clearly those are instances in where we need to be.

Rico Figliolini 0:12:08

In person in court, not to get into the weeds. But I just thought about this. When you’re using Zoom like that on these types of things, will it transcribe as well? I mean, do you keep copies like that, even if it’s in a digital form?

Regina Matthews 0:12:25

So what we typically do, and in civil cases, you don’t have to have the case reported, but most oftentimes, the attorneys or the parties want that service. So we have our court reporters available on Zoom as well, so that they can make a record just like they would be able to if they were in court.

Rico Figliolini 0:12:43

Okay.

Regina Matthews 0:12:44

And additionally, you know, lawyers that are really savvy, they’re really, you know, I guess during COVID they became more savvy in how to introduce documents through Zoom, you know, how to share, use the screen sharing function, or how to attach documents as part of the Zoom video conferencing features. So, you know, we’ve worked around it, and I think, again, there are ways we can make it continue to work in order to make sure that our litigants are receiving effective and efficient resolution of their cases, because the last thing we want is for people to wait years unnecessarily to resolve a case.

Rico Figliolini 0:13:27

And I would think it’s easier this way, too, because you’re digitizing everything. You’re keeping files that way. I mean, automatically, I would think. And, in fact, probably within a year’s time, the transcription part can even be done through voice to text versus just having a transcriber there. There’s so much out there. I mean, you all have to, I guess, figure that out all the time. Keeps going. All right, so a couple of the other issues that’s near and dear to you, I think, that, you know, spoken of, obviously, through not just you, but other candidates and stuff. So one of them is housing and security. You mentioned that as a significant issue in Gwinnett county. So how do you propose the court system can address this issue effectively?

Regina Matthews 0:14:14

Yeah, and that’s a tough question. It’s one I struggle with and think about all the time, because I think the issue of housing insecurity sort of leads to other issues that we see in our courts, obviously, you know, people don’t have a safe place to live. It’s going to affect our crime rates. It’s going to affect recidivism. It’s going to affect people just being able to function in our community. So I think it comes down to resources, and that’s really one of the unfortunate practical realities for our courts, is a lot of times we want to, of course, help people. Courts are rehabilitative and to some extent. But when we have individuals who simply don’t have a place to go, for instance, I’m going to step aside a moment and talk about our accountability courts. So we have three in superior court, veterans court, mental health court, and drug courts. And all of those courts, obviously, operate for the purpose of establishing rehabilitative services and treatment services for individuals so that they don’t keep committing crimes, so that they don’t re offend, and so that they can be productive members of society. Those courts can only operate to their full extent if we have the appropriate resources in the communities available. We are limited, and that’s just the reality. So, for instance, when we have individuals who successfully complete one of those treatment programs, and there have been many, I can go on and on about the efficacy of those programs. But what I find is that they sometimes come back not because they’re not taking their medications or they’re not seeing their treatment providers, but it’s because they don’t have housing. So we send them through treatment. They do everything they need to do, but either because of their past or just because of the cost of living, they find themselves back in the courts because they’re on the street. So I don’t know what the solution is, other than really having our communities help us advocate to our legislators, to our commissioners to give us more funding so that we can try to establish appropriate housing in Gwinnett county. There are some places that work with our program that will provide transitional support in housing for people that are in our accountability courts, but it’s only temporary. So once they meet that threshold of time, then they’re sort of left to their own supports and connections to try to find affordable housing. And I know affordable housing is an issue everywhere. It’s not just in Gwinnett county, but for sure, yeah.

Rico Figliolini 0:17:11

I mean, there’s not enough. Everyone wants to go to the higher price tag. Land is becoming scarce, even in Gwinnett county, apparently in certain places. So they want to put as much as they can and still charge as much as they can. So sticking with this, too, because mental health and veterans court as well. Right. Both. Those also are issues that go hand in hand, almost actually, with housing insecurity. Right. And what you’re looking at is support from nonprofits that are helping and doing stuff with federal monies and donations, corporate donations. But it’s a tough track. Right. So how do you, yeah. How do you feel that, you know, with mental health, what is it, 500 prisoners or so in the Gwinnett prison system that probably shouldn’t be there? Many of them they probably should be. They should be treated, obviously. How do you, how does the court system, how can the court system help with that?

Regina Matthews 0:18:14

So again, it’s tough because of, honestly, the truth of the matter is we have limited capacity. And, you know, if you look at places where we send people, for instance, for inpatient treatment, we’re talking about Lakeview, they have about 124 beds. Summit Ridge, they have a little under 100 beds. Peachford, which is all the way out in Atlanta, they have about 250 beds or so. We have way more people that need to be to get inpatient treatment than there are beds. So a lot of times what happens is people sit and wait. So for those people that we know need treatment, and we’re not just going to send them back out in the community without it. We keep them in jail and we try to arrange, there are some treatments that the jail medical staff can assist with while they’re waiting for beds. But a lot of times, honestly, we’re just having people wait for open beds because so many of them, I would say 70% or so, need some type of inpatient treatment. Now, our mental health accountability courts help a lot of people that are sort of not as much of a need of services, if that makes sense. I mean, they’re all in need of services, but to a different degree, because there are outpatient services that our treatment providers offer for those individuals where they can still, you know, live on the outside and work and do those things. But, you know, for those, the vast majority of people who need more intensive help, again, it’s just a matter of having the limited bed space.

Rico Figliolini 0:19:55

Well, not only that, it’s security, too. Right? Secured bed space, because there’s still, they’re still serving time, but they should be serving time in a place that at least will help them get better.

Regina Matthews 0:20:07

That is correct. That is correct. So, and, you know, I don’t know what the answer is. I know, you know, people never want to hear that we’re supposed to have all the answers. But, you know, I sit in court every day and I struggle with that. You know, you want to help people, you know, how important it is for them to get the help they need and to every extent possible, you know, I do that, you know, but when there’s, you know, only a limited number of bed space and the hospitals are saying, we can’t take this person right now, then we just have to do the best we can do. And that is, again, engaging with our medical staff at the jail and with our treatment providers who can come into the jail and offer services while those individuals wait. But, you know, otherwise we’re relying on, you know, what we have.

Rico Figliolini 0:20:58

Right, right. It’s a struggle, I imagine, because it’s almost like the sports industry here in Gwinnett county, right. We can only get certain amount of sporting events that the hotel system can support. Right. And then we have to turn away events because maybe there’s not enough space during that time. Same thing with jails. Right? To a degree, if you want to make that comparison, it’s like, I’m sure that you all have to figure out, well, you know, we have. We hit capacity. You know, where can, you know, can we, you know, put more prisoners into the system when you fix the capacity? You know, and I don’t know if we’ve actually hit that capacity yet or. Not hit the capacity for. To have occupancy in a system like this. You know, do we have enough?

Regina Matthews 0:21:44

I think we have. I mean, I can tell you as someone who not only sits in our superior courts, but who also presides in the absence of the judges who preside over our accountability courts. You know, I sit in those courts as well, and I’m very intimately familiar with how those treatment courts operate. And I can tell you that we are at capacity and we want to take in more people, but the practical reality is we don’t have the resources. And that is the. It’s really, it’s sad for me. It’s one of the most heart wrenching things as a judge to know that someone again needs help and they either have to wait in order to get it or we just have to come up with another solution.

Rico Figliolini 0:22:34

So going to that, I mean, obviously there’s so many challenges. This is one of them or several of them that we’ve just discussed. Are there other challenges you see in the court system that you would like to attend to?

Regina Matthews 0:22:49

I think those, honestly are the biggest challenges. Those are the ones that I’m confronted with every day. People who need assistance and treatment for trauma or substance use disorder or they need housing resources. Again, I don’t really notice a backlog that a lot of people refer to, because I think if you talk to lawyers who practice in other areas outside of Gwinnett, they will tell you Gwinnett handles cases way more efficiently than some of the other jurisdictions. So I think we do a good job of utilizing the resources we have by way of, you know, full time magistrates and our senior judges. I think we do things well. We use our, you know, alternative dispute resolution resources to a great extent. I think that helps us in that regard. So I think overall, we do things well in Gwinnett, in our courts. But again, I do think, you know, we have to prioritize with our money, you know, having more resources available for, you know, people struggling with substance use disorder or mental illness or a combination of both. We have a lot of people who are dual diagnosis. Right. So they have substance use disorder and mental illness, and a lot of times are housing insecure. So they obviously need a lot more resources, and that all falls struggle.

Rico Figliolini 0:24:20

Yeah. How do you see the role of the judiciary system when it comes to educating the public about the legal system? Their rights is all that falls hand in hand with what we just discussed, I think because sometimes the legal system can take the easy way out because it must, because there’s no other way to do. To do it at this point. Right. So what do you think the role is of the judicial system here as far as education, educating the public?

Regina Matthews 0:24:48

I think it’s important. You know, as a judge, I want people in our community to feel like they are knowledgeable about our courts. They sort of know where to go when they need to file a particular type of case. I think we as a judiciary, can do a better job of putting information out there that is available to the public. We have taken a lot of strides in Gwinnett in our courts. I will tell you that there are, particularly for magistrate court, our chief magistrate, Christina Bloom, she keeps brochures in the magistrate court office that is available to people, anyone who walks in. They can get a pamphlet on landlord tenant issues, you know, in those cases and how they’re handled and sort of the issues that come up in those cases, small claims, you know, basically step by step. I don’t want to say instructions because we can’t give legal advice, but we do give people resources. Like, this is where you can go. Our courts also operate a family law clinic. So for individuals who may want to represent themselves or maybe they. They don’t have the money to hire an attorney and maybe they don’t qualify for legal aid, they’re sort of stuck in the middle. There are resources available because of the goodwill of some of our attorneys who volunteer their time to do clinics to help people sort of navigate those processes. So we have information there. I think we can do a better job about making sure people know that the information is out there so that they can utilize it.

Rico Figliolini 0:26:25

That’s interesting. I didn’t know about that.

Regina Matthews 0:26:28

A lot of people don’t.

Rico Figliolini 0:26:29

Yeah, yeah. No, that sounds like another good podcast, actually.

Regina Matthews 0:26:33

So great idea. As a great idea, I wish more people knew about those types of services, and it’s just a matter of figuring out how do we get that message out to people.

Rico Figliolini 0:26:44

Yeah, it’s not easy. And then to get people to listen, actually, too, because they may not need it at that moment. Until they need it, right.

Regina Matthews 0:26:53

Until they need it. Yeah.

Rico Figliolini 0:26:54

Yeah.

Regina Matthews 0:26:54

The other thing I tell people, too, you know, I think people are generally afraid of courts or maybe they’re just apprehensive when it comes to, you know, courts. And so I tell people, don’t always think about it in a negative way. I encourage people to come out and observe court proceedings, you know, when you can. I know most people have full time jobs, so that may not be feasible all the time, but, you know, courts are open forums, so if you want to come and observe a divorce trial or, you know, a criminal trial or whatever type of trial, you know, come to court, observe, see how, you know, things go. And I think that might help prepare people, too, better for, you know, you know, the times that they have to come to court and face that same situation.

Rico Figliolini 0:27:41

It’s funny, I think people think of court system like the IRS. Just stay away and don’t go near it.

Regina Matthews 0:27:47

That’s right. People don’t want to come anywhere close if they don’t have to. I get that. I get that.

Rico Figliolini 0:27:52

Although I got to say, the Gwinnett county police do a great job when they do ride alongs. That, depending on how you do that program, even some of the local small town like Suwannee, I think, in Duluth do similar type of things where you can go with the police and see their normal day, if you will.

Regina Matthews 0:28:08

I love those programs, too, because, you know, our law enforcement, I also think that they sort of get that reputation of, you know, like, we don’t want to deal with law enforcement unless we need them. Right. Like, we stay away, you know, and I think we have to embrace, you know, our law enforcement officers as, you know, our friends. You know, they’re here to help us. They want to protect us and keep us safe. So I’m so glad, you know, so many of our police chiefs have taken the initiative to really be present in the community, you know, for reasons outside of, you know, crime, safety and prevention. But just so that people know, you know, they’re friendly, they’re neighborly, they want to, you know, you know, help us, but also be, make sure that we know that they’re part of the community to help and not just to get the bad guys, for sure.

Rico Figliolini 0:28:59

Right, right. Yeah, true. And a lot of them do a good job that way. We talked about technology before, but I like talking a little bit more specific about artificial intelligence, AI, and what that means in a court system or in preparing court documents or in having to worry about evidence that may be submitted that could have been tainted by AI. So what, you know, what do you think are the potential benefits and drawbacks of using AI in the court system?

Regina Matthews 0:29:35

Yeah, admittedly, you know, it’s a discussion we’re having to have more often. Even some of our continuing judicial education classes are starting to talk about this issue. And candidly, it scares me a bit because I’m just trying to imagine a court system whereby human intelligence is replaced by artificial intelligence. I mean, just the thought of it is a little alarming. I do think that there are ways in which AI can be beneficial. You know, for instance, when you’re an attorney or a judge, you know, or a law clerk who’s working for a judge, and you want to find information about a specific case or a legal topic, you know, doing research could be, AI could be great because it could make you more efficient and getting the answers you need. But I will say, as a caveat, there has to be a human, I think, sort of checking that. So even if you use it for research purposes, it is still artificial intelligence. So I would like to think that we would still need some human to basically double check to make sure of the accuracy of whatever information you’re getting. So I think there could be some benefits for efficiency when it comes to operating in a courtroom setting, though I’m more afraid of AI than I am of welcoming of it, because I foresee issues where we’re presented with evidence, for example, and we have to test the credibility or veracity of that evidence. And again, there’s just no substitute, I don’t think, for human intelligence as opposed to AI. And I think about the floodgates opening up with even court filings and us getting backlogged because of AI and something other than human filing court documents and how that could just really cause a backlog.

Rico Figliolini 0:31:34

You’re worried about more filings happening because it can be generated faster through AI.

Regina Matthews 0:31:39

That is correct. That is correct.

Rico Figliolini 0:31:42

I mean, certainly AI has issues, and I don’t, you know, as fast as it’s moving right now, who knows? In a year or two, probably less than two years, I bet based on what’s been going on in the last two years, we’re going to end up being able to. If you have someone that doesn’t speak the language, that can be translated through the system, Google does that right now. The Google Translate, right. And voice, you can have real time fact checking occurring where you can look at, you know, place it to chat, GPT 7.05.0 when it comes out, where you could check those facts. So there are certainly good side to it, but as fast as that’s moving, the bad side can move just as fast.

Regina Matthews 0:32:29

I can say, yeah, I agree, it’s troublesome. And because I guess we’re not sort of there yet, it’s hard to really appreciate how. How much of an effect it will have on our courts, whether a good, you know, good or bad, because, like you said, it’s happening so quickly, it’s almost hard to grasp. But, yeah, it’s gonna be here, if it’s not already, we’re gonna have to confront it. And. And it does give me some, some. I don’t know, I’m concerned a little bit.

Rico Figliolini 0:32:59

Well, it’s good that you all are getting education on it, right? Continuing education, if you will. So that’s a good part, that it’s being proactive, at least.

Regina Matthews 0:33:07

Yep.

Rico Figliolini 0:33:08

If you were to win the Gwinnett County Superior Court judgeship, what do you think, in brief, would be your long term vision for it?

Regina Matthews 0:33:17

So I will say, first of all, I’m the only candidate in the race who has unequivocally indicated that I will, without question, continue the accountability courts that Judge Byers started. And particularly those accountability courts are veterans treatment court and mental health accountability court. She is the only judge currently sitting on the bench who operates those treatment court programs. So once she resigns her seat at the end of this year, those programs could effectively go away. And so I have made an unequivocal promise to continue on with those programs. Honestly, I can’t imagine our courts not having them. So that is the first thing I will continue her legacy. You know, she started those courts. I think we just celebrated the 11th year, and so I want that to be, you know, a long term program, both of those to be long term programs that Gwinnett can be proud of forever. So I promise that I foresee a court whereby litigants feel that Judge Matthews is fair. She’s even handed, she’s even tempered. She may not always issue a ruling that I agree with, but I will trust that Judge Matthews has followed the law, you know, above all else, and that she treated me with dignity and with respect. You know, I was a practicing lawyer for a long time, and I remember appearing in front of judges who, I don’t know, seem like they would make sport of humiliating litigants or humiliating attorneys. I’m sure. I mean, you probably have seen or at least heard of those types of judges, and it was just troubling to me. And I, you know, said a long time ago, if I ever became a judge, you know, I will never be that type of judge where, you know, someone comes in and they have, you know, an issue that’s important enough to them to either file a case or be involved in whatever the litigation is. But, you know, people deserve to be treated with dignity, no matter what. And I include, you know, people who are charged of criminal offenses. You know, obviously, we don’t condone criminal behavior. I don’t like it. But those people deserve to be treated with dignity at the very least. And so that’s what people will get from me, judge, again, that’s going to be fair. Who’s going to operate independently, who is not going to be swayed, you know, politically. Who’s really just going to follow the laws, as I’m bound to do, the constitution of the state of Georgia, the constitution of the United States, and the laws passed by our legislators.

Rico Figliolini 0:36:03

Okay, well, thank you for sharing that vision. We’ve come pretty much to the end of our talk. But what I’d like you to do is give us, in short, two minutes, maybe ask for the vote, essentially tell everyone why they should be voting for you and ask for that vote.

Regina Matthews 0:36:23

Thank you, Rico. And, you know, I have to tell you lawyers, you probably know this. Lawyers and judges are not good with time limits. So I hope I can do the two minutes. If I started to go over, just stop me, because we’re not good at keeping time out. Yeah, put your hand up or something. But again, thank you for this opportunity. I take being a judge as something that is meaningful. It is difficult work. You know, the decisions that I make, that we make as judges every day, you know, we realize that they impact people in very significant ways. And so what I can tell the voters is that’s not something I will ever take for granted. You should vote for me not only because I have a deep concern and care for the people of this county, not only because I currently serve the county, but also because you need a judge and you deserve a judge who has the experience to do the job and to do it on day one. As I talked about earlier, I currently sit in superior court every day. At this point in my judicial career, I’ve made decisions, probably I want to say hundreds, but it may be even close to thousands of cases. This point I’ve done so diligently. I’m a judge that operates with the utmost integrity, and you don’t have to just take my word for it. I’ve been tried, vetted and tested, so to speak. The eleven superior court judges that you elected and the chief magistrate judge you elected in Gwinnett county have already vetted my qualifications. They wouldn’t designate me to sit for them over 200 times if they didn’t believe that I was suitable to do the job of a superior court judge. And that is what I do every day. I make a commitment to the voters that I will continue to have deep respect for the rule of law, I will always follow and adhere to the rule of law, that I will operate with integrity, and that I will do everything to make sure the court processes run efficiently. Thank you again, and I hope to have your vote. You overwhelmingly supported me in the primary election. I hope I can get you back out to vote for the runoff. You can find more information on my website at judgematthews.com, I’m also on social media Regina Matthews for superior court or judge Regina Matthews. I’m on LinkedIn. I’m on Instagram. I’m pretty much all the social media platforms. But again, I just hope the voters can remember that, you know, you need and deserve someone who has the experience doing the job. And I’m ready on day one.

Rico Figliolini 0:38:59

Great. By the time people hear this, early voting, I think will have ended. So June 18, Tuesday is the day.

Regina Matthews 0:39:06

Tuesday, June 19. That day you have to go to your assigned voter precinct for early voting. Obviously it’s different, but on June 18, you have to go to your designated polling place, seven to seven.

Rico Figliolini 0:39:22

Thanks for that. So thank you, Regina Matthews. Appreciate you being on with me. Hang in there for a minute, but thank you. Everyone else. If you have questions, certainly put it into the comments. Whether you’re listening to this on Facebook or YouTube, or you have comments that you want to send directly to Regina Matthews, just go to her website, judgematthews.com, and you’ll be able to do that. So thanks again. Appreciate you being with us.

Regina Matthews 0:39:48

Thank you, Rico.

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Elections and Politics

Tuwanda Rush Williams in Run-Off June 18 for Gwinnett Superior Court Judge

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This non-partisan run-off election decides who will serve in the seat

The Tuesday, June 18th run-off election for Gwinnett Superior Court Judge is almost here. In my interview with candidate Tuwanda Rush Williams, you will find out why she is running, her plans for mental health issues in the inmate population, why transparency and responsibility are important to her, and how she will rebuild trust in the judicial system. Tuwanda discusses the role of technology in modernizing the court system, the need for more lawyers to provide indigent defense services, and the importance of judges being visible and engaging with the public to build trust in the courts’ fairness and impartiality. With your host Rico Figliolini.

Resources:
Tuwanda’s Website: https://www.tuwanda4judge.com/

Timestamp:
00:00:00 – Tuwanda Rush Williams Runs for Gwinnett Superior Court Judge
00:01:15 – From New York to Georgia
00:03:54 – Improving Mental Health Care in Jail
00:07:50 – Addressing Mental Health in the Justice System
00:11:21 – Improving Court System Efficiency, Addressing Indigent Defense, and Leveraging Technology
00:15:53 – Balancing Technology in the Courtroom
00:18:06 – Concerns About AI in the Courts: Lack of Empathy and Transparency
00:22:15 – Ensuring Impartiality in Judicial Decisions
00:25:38 – Canine Incident Leads to Lawsuit
00:29:55 – Employing More Senior Judges to Clear Backlog
00:32:13 – Qualifications Beyond Being a Judge
00:35:29 – Tuwanda Rush Williams’ Campaign Resources and Endorsements

Podcast Transcript

Rico Figliolini 0:00:01

Hi, everyone. This is Rico Figliolini, host of Peachtree Corners Life, and we have an election coming up. It’s actually a runoff June 18, and I have one of the candidates for one of those runoffs, which is the candidate for Superior Court Judge here in Gwinnett County. Tuwanda Rush Williams. Hey, Tuwanda, how are you?

Tuwanda Rush Williams 0:00:20

Hello, Rico. How are you?

Rico Figliolini 0:00:22

Good, good. Appreciate you spending the time this afternoon coming out to speak to us and answer questions and talk about your candidacy. So appreciate you doing that. Absolutely.

Tuwanda Rush Williams 0:00:35

Thank you for the opportunity.

Rico Figliolini 0:00:37

No, for sure. And I think our readers and followers enjoy this type of thing. We just did one for the school board race, district three, and I got good responses on that. They enjoyed that, learning a bit more about candidates that are running. So why don’t you. Why don’t we start off Tuwanda with you telling us a little bit about yourself and tell us why or what motivated you to want to run for Gwinnett Superior Court Judge.

Tuwanda Rush Williams 0:01:05

Absolutely. Thank you. So, my name is Tuwanda Rush Williams, and I have been a resident of Gwinnett county for about 24 years now. Quite a while, I guess. 2000 is when we moved here, beginning of 2000. And I’m originally from Rochester, New York, but I have been in Georgia for the last 32 years, so I consider myself a Georgia peach at this point. But I am married and I have. My husband is doctor Anthony Williams. He is a retired Gwinnett county public school systems assistant principal, and he is also an army veteran. And we have two adult children, one who is in pharmacy school at UNC Chapel Hill, and the other is a youth college and young adult minister and an information technology specialist at Cox Enterprises. And so I’ve been practicing law for 31 years, a long time, most of that time here in Gwinnett county working for Gwinnett county government, and for the past year working at the law firm of Thompson, O’Brien, Kapler and the Sudie in Peachtree Corners. So why am I seeking this position? Simply because of what I observed in my 18 years working for Gwinnett county government, I rose to the position of second command. So I was deputy county attorney in the county attorney’s office, and I represented all 5300 employees, which included the district attorney, the clerk of court, the solicitor general, the sheriff, the tax commissioner, and the judges on all six courts. So I spent a lot of time at the Gwinnett county jail, and what I saw were the large number of persons with diagnosed mental illness sitting in the Gwinnett county jail. When I left the county in May, of last year in order to run for judge, and I had to leave my job because it was a conflict of interest to run for judge when I defended the judges when they were sued. When I left the county, there were 500 people with mental illness, diagnosed mental illness sitting in the jail. They tend to be socially isolated. They require around the clock observation. They are a higher suicide risk, and they require a lot of manpower resources. Because of that, there were another 2200 inmates in the regular population who were pretty much on their own, neglected. They were getting showers one day a week. It was very difficult for them to meet with their lawyers to prepare for their cases to go to trial. They also did not have much recreation time simply because there was not enough staffing to manage the 2200 regular inmates and simultaneously take care of the 500 inmates with mental illness of some type. So one of the reasons why I decided to run is because I don’t want to see people with diagnosed mental illnesses sitting in the jail awaiting trial. They don’t get better sitting in the jail. They need to have alternative custody arrangements. They need to be able to be in a mental health facility, or they need to be at home with counseling services, therapy services, medication stabilization, and a case manager while they are awaiting trial. And what I see in the county right now is that we have accountability courts, but they need to be expanded, and judges need to put a request in their budget to expand those courts so that we have a place to put people who have been charged with a crime but are not good candidates for being locked up in our jail. So I would like to see judges not send people to jail that have mental illness, but also send them to places like a viewpoint health, which is inadequate for staffing purposes. Right now they only have 16 beds. So we need to actually advocate in our court system for more money to take care of those with diagnosed mental illnesses as opposed to sitting in the jail.

Rico Figliolini 0:05:42

So for most people that don’t understand, they might think Gwinnett Superior Court judge is just a sitting judge listening to cases, felony cases, family law, divorce, child custody. But it is more as well an administrative role, deciding budgets and personnel. Right?

Tuwanda Rush Williams 0:06:01

That is exactly true. Superior court judges have a budget just like any other county department or state department, and they actually, they will go down to the Capitol and advocate for various issues as well that impact the court system. And one thing you said, Rico, that I want to follow up on. Most people think of superior court as criminal felony cases and family law cases are heard there. But did you know that there are a large variety of matters that are also heard in superior court that I handle over the last 19 years as a government lawyer, such as your property tax appeals, condemnation cases, inverse condemnation cases, elections lawsuits, civil rights lawsuits, contract disputes, all kinds of declaratory judgment actions, stormwater issues, things that people don’t really think about that are heard in superior court. And you would only have experience in those areas if you have been a local government lawyer, such as myself.

Rico Figliolini 0:07:11

You’ve been doing this for 31 years. Practicing here in Georgia.

Tuwanda Rush Williams 0:07:17

Yes, practicing in Georgia. 31 years. I practiced most of my career in Gwinnett county. So the last 19 years I worked here in Gwinnett, 18 years in the county attorney’s office, rising and promoted to second in command, and for the past year, working at Thompson O’Brien law firm, where we represent the city of Norcross, Bryan county and some other municipalities, doing a variety of work.

Rico Figliolini 0:07:47

So, getting back to a little bit about that budget, about the mental health issues, which is a challenge, a rising challenge. Obviously, like you said, mental health issues, putting people into prison doesn’t make them any better. They don’t have the programs there. But in everything, everything costs money. Someone says to me, oh, can we just do this? Well, everything costs money, and you’re just adding to the bill. So that’s one thing that costs money. Then you have other things that cost money, whether you don’t have enough staff to be able to do the things you need to do and all that. So, understanding you want to lobby for money, understanding that you have a finite budget right now, what would be the first thing you do when you, if you were to win, to attend to those mental health issues? What is one of the first things that you would do in there? Knowing that you have a finite budget, you know, you don’t have anything more coming at that moment.

Tuwanda Rush Williams 0:08:49

So the first thing that I would do as a judge is I would look for opportunities to sentence those with a diagnosed mental illness to arrangements that are not in our jail custody. So if they were a candidate to be able to be at home with counseling services and case manager, that’s where I would send them while they were awaiting trial, as opposed to putting them in our jail, because that would be the first thing I would do, is I would look for opportunities to send people who’ve been accused of crimes to their home environment, as opposed to putting them in the jail, which is a place where they’re just not going to get better and there’s just not enough resources. But then after I looked at who would be a good candidate for being home because everyone can’t be home with a diagnosed mental illness. Right. Then I would look for opportunities to advocate for the budget for a superior court to be expanded such that we can maybe take monies from some other area. Right. We have a mental health court. We have a veterans court. We also have a drug court. But the mental health court is where we have the greatest financial need simply because of the number of individuals who are coming through the court system with a diagnosed mental illness. So I would look at those other two courts to see if we could reallocate funds from those courts to the mental health court so that we could expand the budget to take care of those people. Viewpoint. Health will take individuals who do not have insurance or who are underinsured, who have a diagnosed mental health condition. The problem is that they only have 16 operable beds, which is just not enough, which shows you that they need to be expanded. They need to have larger facilities, more beds, more staffing. So we’ve got to figure out a way to cut the budget in some other areas in the county and add that money to mental health services.

Rico Figliolini 0:11:08

Let me ask you something. Not that we can solve the issues here, but the jail system is run by the sheriff. Correct? The budget and all that.

Tuwanda Rush Williams 0:11:16

It is. It is.

Rico Figliolini 0:11:17

So. And you’re moving with the thought is there’s 500 prisoners that have mental health issues. Obviously not all of them. Some of them are violent criminals that are going to have to sit there. There’s no other place to put them, most likely. Right. So if you’re moving 100 of them out of there, though, maybe. Does it make sense then to look at the jail system and say, okay, they’re spending a certain amount of money per prisoner doing that? I know this is not the norm, looking at budgets from different departments, but shifting money from within a department. Is that a county commission responsibility?

Tuwanda Rush Williams 0:11:57

It is a county commission responsibility, but the commissioners have to receive a budget from the various county courts and departments in order to set a budget for them. So you are correct. The budget, the overall budget is approved by the board of commissioners, but they have to receive a budget request from the court system as well as from the sheriff so that they can make the right decisions. So you’re correct.

Rico Figliolini 0:12:25

So when you know some of it’s okay. So aside from the mental health issues, which is a big issue, obviously there’s other issues within the system. Covid brought that to light to a degree. Right. And different things were done. Things were done differently a bit because of not being able to meet in person. Some of it’s successful. Some of it, I think, is still continuing. Some of it isn’t. Do you think that technology, the role of technology in modernizing the court system makes sense? You talked before about how individuals can’t meet their lawyers. Well, you know, is that an in person visit, or is that a lawyer that can meet them on a Zoom call? I mean, is there areas that you’d like to see changed, or, you know, within the court system that can be helpful?

Tuwanda Rush Williams 0:13:18

Yes, there are a couple of things that I’d like to see improve. One thing that we definitely need to improve is the number of lawyers that are appointed as indigent defense attorneys, because we have a large number of persons accused of crimes who cannot afford a lawyer. And so in Gwinnett county, we utilize private lawyers to represent those individuals, and they receive an hourly wage. That program is governed by an indigent defense governing committee, and I served on it for seven years before I left the county. And one thing that I’d like us to do to improve upon that system is to recruit more lawyers who are willing to defend persons who cannot afford a lawyer. What’s happening right now is the courts are backlogged with their criminal cases because there’s just not enough lawyers available to appoint to represent someone accused of a crime. And one thing we need to do is to increase the hourly rate of private lawyers who are able and willing to represent indigent persons. So I’d like to see the county improve the hourly rate for those individuals. Another thing I’d like to see is what you alluded to is greater use of technology. During COVID a lot of the hearings were held by Zoom, and that was great. When you just have a lawyer on either side of a case who has the ability to present information over Zoom, it doesn’t work for trials because you have to have a jury.

Rico Figliolini 0:15:09

And so that probably works best when you have the individual in person, actually.

Tuwanda Rush Williams 0:15:16

That is correct. And you’ve got to be able to determine that person’s demeanor and everything else. Right. But certainly we can continue to use technology for a routine motion, for example, you know, a motion to exclude evidence that certainly can be heard using virtual capability. So I’d like to see us continue to use technology for what I consider hearings and very short matters, and maybe even expand upon it, because it worked really well during COVID But much of the use of technology for virtual hearings has disappeared in the last couple of years. The judges, most of the judges, tend to have those hearings in person.

Rico Figliolini 0:16:06

Again, I think from one of the lawyers. I heard also, technology wise, that things are digitized, all the files that are digitized, so it’s easier to look them up. But the other problem with that is, of course, a lawyer can’t go back and check the cartons of files, let’s say, of things that maybe weren’t scanned, because not everything is scanned, unfortunately. It seems so. There’s a two edged sword right there, I think. Right? Yeah. You got to make sure everything scanned or you’re going to. And you’re going to have to still hold the physical evidence for later, right?

Tuwanda Rush Williams 0:16:50

Yes. Yes, absolutely. That is an issue.

Rico Figliolini 0:16:54

Okay. Do you feel, have you seen as a, as a lawyer, and do you foresee AI being an issue, whether it’s deep fakes or it’s documents being presented that are false documents, for example, do you see AI being an issue, or how would you attend to that technology in the run of the courts?

Tuwanda Rush Williams 0:17:18

That is a very good question. I have mixed feelings about AI. I think that it would be beneficial to use artificial intelligence for basic research purposes. So if the lawyer or the judge wants to know the statute of limitations for a particular civil case, then AI would be great, because you just simply ask, what is the statute of limitations? You get to answer, it’s easy. What I think is bad about AI for purposes of the courts is that AI is digitized, which means it has no feelings, it has no emotions. Right. So you cannot use AI to determine a person’s individual circumstances or background, particularly when you are making decisions based on family needs, custody arrangements, visitation arrangements, or when you are dealing with someone who has been accused of a crime. Because AI doesn’t have compassion, AI doesn’t have empathy. So I would never want to see a quote unquote robo judge. I think you have to have human beings making decisions and weighing the credibility of witnesses. But I do think that AI could actually speed up the handling of cases from the perspective of staff attorneys who conduct research for judges as well as for the lawyers themselves who represent clients.

Rico Figliolini 0:19:07

Dealing with public trust and transparency. Some are maybe true, maybe not true, maybe just myths, maybe just legends, maybe just people think this is the way the system is and it’s not fair. The reality could be a little different. So how would you handle or improve public trust in the judicial system? Because that always seems to be a negative thing there. But how would you try to improve that?

Tuwanda Rush Williams 0:19:38

Well, one of the things that I talk about on the campaign trail is the lack of visibility of our judges. And what I mean by that is most people don’t know who the judges are. Most people have no idea what types of matters are heard in each court. So one of the things that I would do to try to improve public trust is to require the judges to be more visible in the community and maybe have something like a. Just coffee with a judge once a month, where you put the judges on rotation so that the public members can come in and ask questions about the process. You know, how do I go about filing a lawsuit? What types of cases are heard in your court? For instance, you may have the probate court chief judge one month, and then you may have the state court chief judge another month, and then the superior court chief judge another month, and then the magistrate court and the recorder’s court and juvenile court. Just because if people don’t feel like they have access to the court system, they are less likely to trust the court system. They’re less likely to see it as fair. But when they are able to interact up close and personal with the judges, then they can ask the questions that they need to ask to feel more confident that the system is fair. So that’s one thing that I would do. Obviously, judges take an oath to be fair and to be impartial at all times. And, of course, they must use good judgment. They’re required to have continuing education, just like a lawyer. So there are things that are mandated by the code of judicial conduct of Georgia that judges are required to do to make sure that they maintain fairness and so that the public can trust that the decisions they make are legally sound and fair, but that’s not seen by the public. So I think we have to have our judges more visible in the community.

Rico Figliolini 0:21:57

Sounds good. To ensure impartiality and fairness in the judicial decisions. I know that, for example, there’s a family that I know that’s trying to get custody of the children of their daughter’s kids who passed away. And, you know, I know that the court system likes to make sure they prove they keep the kids with the immediate family, but sometimes that’s not always doable for a lot of different reasons. Maybe the individual person is not a good steward or caretaker for those kids. How do you, you know, you’re dealing with lawyers presenting cases versus the individuals per se, but how do you deal with that? How do you deal with that impartiality or the empathy that you should have in a case like that because you’re a judge?

Tuwanda Rush Williams 0:22:53

Well, again, you are relying on the lawyers for each party right to present evidence, and the standard is the best interest of the child. And because that is the legal standard. Depending upon the age of the children, the judge might hear from the children themselves. Right? And of course, if they are age 14, they can choose which, where they want to be, who has custody of them. If they are age twelve, the judge can take that into consideration as well. The judge can literally ask, you know, do you want to be with your paternal grandparents or do you want to be with your biological father? Tell me why. Tell me what your life experience has been to this point. And those hearings are held in camera, which means that the public is not allowed to come in and hear that minor share his or her story with the judge. But that’s one way that you would get at impartiality, which is actually considering what the child or the children want. But remember, you’re relying on the lawyers who represent these parties, who have also taken an oath to present all of the evidence that is uncovered, whether it’s for or against their client. And that goes directly to impartiality in the decision of the judge.

Rico Figliolini 0:24:28

With all the cases that you’ve tried, legal issues that you’ve handled, has there been any significant case or situation that has impacted you in a good way or bad?

Tuwanda Rush Williams 0:24:43

Well, for many, many years, I tried a lot of civil rights lawsuits, and I tried them in federal court, some in superior court. There’s one case that I tried involving an individual who sued Gwinnett county, as well as several Gwinnett county police officers for excessive force. And it involved an individual had allegedly stolen a television from an apartment complex. Our police was summoned to the scene, and our canine unit came. And in this particular case, the gentleman dropped the television that he was carrying, and he ran. And then he jumped down into a ravine. And our police officer sent the canine to retrieve the gentleman, and he was significantly, he has permanent disfigurement as a result of that. I won the case. I was able to show. Well, the interesting thing is the gentleman sued not just Gwinnett county and the officers, but the gentleman sued the canine, which was the strangest thing. I never had a case where somebody sued the dog, but in this case, he sued, which is insane. I was able to win the case, ultimately. At first, I lost the case trial level, because the judge determined that the use of force was. But I appealed the case to the US District Court of Appeals, and I won the case because I was able to show that the use of force was reasonable because this guy, you know, tried to escape. But the case gave me. I felt like I should have lost it only because I don’t believe that our officers follow proper protocol, because you cannot send the canine in to attack someone until you’ve given the suspect fair warning. And I don’t think that that was.

Rico Figliolini 0:27:18

How long ago was that the case?

Tuwanda Rush Williams 0:27:21

It was several years ago. I want to say it was in probably 2017, but that was the one case where I felt like we should not have won it. Between you and I, and this guy is now permanently disfigured. But other than that I feel very good about the decisions that were made, and I won 95% of the cases that I ever tried.

Rico Figliolini 0:27:48

And there’s a lot of cases out there. A lot of backlog of cases, apparently.

Tuwanda Rush Williams 0:27:54

Yes.

Rico Figliolini 0:27:55

And I know you touched upon it a little bit, but it is a lot of cases out there. Is there any suggestions what you do to clear that backlog?

Tuwanda Rush Williams 0:28:05

Yes. So, of course, the backlog existed even before COVID but it was exacerbated by COVID, as we know. And that was largely because the courts actually had to shut down for a period of time because it was not out for the presence of the litigants. They had to put up plexiglass in the jury boxes. They had to put up plexiglass in front of the podium where the lawyer or the litigant speaks, and in front of the judge’s bench as well. And after that, the county was running about four years behind on the criminal cases and probably three years behind on the civil cases. And criminal cases legally have to be tried. One of the things that definitely needs to be done more of is greater use of senior judges. We use magistrate judges to handle cases. In fact, my opponent is a magistrate judge, and she handles a lot of family law cases and criminal law cases. She’s not utilized for a lot of the areas that I do, like your property tax appeals and condemnations and stormwater cases and, you know, those kinds of suits, because her background was criminal law and family law. But we need to also employ greater use of senior judges. We use some senior judges, but in order to clear the backlog, we need to use more. These are individuals who have retired from the bench, but they will come back and handle cases for a very hefty hourly rate. Some will say they get paid more as senior judges than they did when they were full time.

Rico Figliolini 0:30:06

Is that what you want to do, though?

Tuwanda Rush Williams 0:30:08

I’m sorry?

Rico Figliolini 0:30:09

Is that what you want to do, though? I mean, that’s just add to more exasperated. More to the budget, I guess.

Tuwanda Rush Williams 0:30:16

Well, I think you’ve got to clear the backlog and so even though it does add more to the budget, they already have the experience to handle those cases because they were judges until they retired. So they can resolve them a lot quicker because they’ve seen the issues before. So I think you want to use more senior judges. They are already using magistrate judges in superior court. They’re not fully using them in state as they can. But superior court does use part time and full time magistrate judges to clear the backlog. And my honest opinion is that Gwinnett county needs more superior court judge seats. We have eleven full time superior court judges and Fulton county has 17. And yet we are the second largest county in the state.

Rico Figliolini 0:31:13

Why is that? A lot more crime?

Tuwanda Rush Williams 0:31:16

You got to have somebody to advocate for it. You got to have your elected state representatives and your senators to say, we need more full time superior court judges. And we are asking the state. It takes someone to advocate for it. Just 11th position in 2021.

Rico Figliolini 0:31:44

Long time ago and things just got more busier. County is growing. Have we touched, is there anything we haven’t touched upon that you’d like to mention?

Tuwanda Rush Williams 0:31:56

I just wanted to share my background and experience as opposed to my opponents, because what I found during the runoff was that somehow people think my opponent is the incumbent because she is a magistrate judge. And, you know, I want the voters to know she’s not the incumbent. There is no incumbent in this race. This is an open, nonpartisan seat, which means that our names appear on any ballot that you pull. Because candidates for judge must run nonpartisan, because they should. Because the judge’s responsibility is to follow the law of the state and the law of the land and not interpose his or her opinion or prejudge a case. So my position is an open position, which means there is no incumbent. We are seeking to replace a judge who is retiring at the end of the year. And I also wanted to state that when you are looking for someone to elect to the bench, I think you need to take into account more factors than just this person is already a judge. You need to consider diversity of experience. I know 25 years of the law very well because I was a government lawyer for most of my career. My opponent doesn’t have that background as a lawyer. And there’s a difference between practicing law, being a zealous advocate for someone, and being a judge who considers the weight of the evidence, the facts and the law. You also want someone who has ties to the community. And I have served Gwinnett county for the last 24 years that I’ve been here. I have served on a lot of nonprofits. I’ve performed hundreds of hours of community service, and so I am woven into the fabric of Gwinnett County. I know Gwinnett County. I know its citizens. Im a leadership Gwinnett grad. I’ve worked on several learning day committees on Gwinnett giving girls, nonprofit, hope nonprofit. I’ve been on family promise of Gwinnett. I’ve done a lot. Very active in the Gwinnett county alumni chapter of Delta Sig Pothatus rorty incorporated. So I’m committed. I have a longstanding history of service to the county, in addition to having been in the county attorney’s office for 18 years until I had to resign in order to run. I would hope the voters would consider all of that. And just saying, well, you know, this person’s already a judge. She’s not a superior court judge. Never has been, never been elected. Neither have I. So we’re equal in that regard.

Rico Figliolini 0:34:50

Okay. I think pretty much you’ve given the speech where you’re asking for the vote, so that’s pretty good. So that’s good. That’s what you should be. Because if you don’t ask for it, you don’t get it. Where can people find out more information about Tuwanda Rush Williams? What website? Where can they find you?

Tuwanda Rush Williams 0:35:12

Absolutely. My website is tuwanda4judge.com. So it’s spelled like my name. Tuwanda, the number four, judge.com. and there’s all kinds of information on there about me and tons of endorsement. Charlotte Nash is someone who has endorsed me. Many people know who she is as well as the former district attorney Danny Porter. You can find my entire bio, all the places that I’ve worked, all the other reasons why I’m running beyond my concern for the people who are sitting in the jail with mental illness. We need to reduce crime and recidivism. We need to offer better support for survivors of human trafficking in Gwinnett. Huge problem. So I hope they’ll check me out there.

Rico Figliolini 0:36:02

Cool. Well, Tuwanda, I appreciate you being on the show with us and answering questions and talking about the issues that you want to let everyone remind everyone. Again, June 18 is the runoff date. There is early voting, depending when you’re listening to this, and I’ll have that in the show notes as well. The opponent is Regina Matthews. So there’s only two of them. So go listen to the podcast, be out there, Google their names. You should be able to find out more information. Again, Tuwanda, stay there with us for a minute. Everyone else thank you again. Yeah, no, for sure. And thank you again, everyone, for listening. There’ll be more information as well at livinginpeachtreecorners.com or southwestgwinnettmagazine.com. so check that out. Follow us on social media and appreciate you being with us. Thank you.

Tuwanda Rush Williams 0:36:54

Thank you.

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