Roy Exum: Greenholtz: A No-Brainer

  • Monday, February 8, 2016
  • Roy Exum
Roy Exum
Roy Exum

I am going to make this as simple as I possibly can. There are three fine lawyers now running for Criminal Court Judge and anywhere you go there will be people who like and admire Tom Greenholtz, Boyd Patterson and Mike Little. But when we select a judge, it should never be based on popularity. That’s why Gov. Haslam picked Greenholtz over both Little and Patterson this summer to fill the remainder of Rebecca Stern’s term when she retired in May.

You’ll remember there were seven lawyers who first sought the position and the three finalist were Mike Little, Leslie Longshore and Boyd Patterson. The three went to Nashville for vigorous interviews, and please know the Governor’s Council for Judicial Appointments is both thorough and challenging.

So it was something of a great surprise when Governor Haslam and his council picked none of the three, instead asking for a second round of candidates to step forward. Why? Who knows but – for what had to have been a good reason -- Gov. Haslam and the judicial committee balked.

Tom Greenholtz, who had not applied in the first round, was urged by his partners at Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel to toss his name in the hat in a most unusual second round. While Patterson, Longshore and Little were still technically candidates, Greenholtz was one of three finalists in the second round and was then put on the bench by the Governor.

Again, no reason was ever given why the council – made up of lawyers from across the state -- demanded a second round of candidates but the mechanism as well as the eventual outcome was telling, indeed, in selecting Greenholtz over the other two who are now seeking to serve as one of our Criminal Court Judges.

“When I was being interviewed by the governor, he asked me a very serious question. ‘If you are not selected, will you run for the office in the next election?’ I told him no, that I wouldn’t, because if I wasn’t chosen it would be a sign that I should seek other ways to help people. I told him I was happy practicing law and that if either the governor or his council picked another good candidate, then that would tell me what I needed to know. I would seek another way to serve the people.”

Greenholtz’s appointment was roundly applauded and since he has been on the bench since last September, he has been outstanding in working with the other criminal court judges, Don Poole and Barry Steelman. “One of the best things is that the three of us work so well together,” Greenholtz said recently.

“We are working very hard to reduce the number of cases awaiting trial and the ‘Drug Court’ has been a tremendous success in helping people get ‘clean,’ get back on their feet with jobs and contribute to society,” he added, saying the backlog of cases waiting to be heard has already dropped significantly.

Here’s a key reason to elect Greenholtz – the man is a huge contributor to the public good, perhaps more than any other elected politician. He chairs the board at Orange Grove Center (which could easily be a fulltime job) and is past chairman of the Chamblis Children’s Services Center. He is active in United Way, and St. Peter’s Episcopal Church and even more organizations. He said, “I just feel like everybody ought to do a little extra if they can. We have a great community because so many are involved in lending a helping hand.”

Understand, Greenholtz has two young children who don’t need Orange Grove of Chambliss services. “That’s not the point," he said modestly, “Other children do.”

So how do you give your heart to such tender organizations and then sentence some guy to life in jail? “The hardest thing I have ever done is give a criminal a life sentence. It isn’t just him but his family is involved and you are dealing with a person’s life,” he said. “I like to think the bench is a way to help people. We have some heinous crimes … first-degree murder, child rape … that must be dealt with firmly but fairly.

“Not long ago Don (Poole) sentenced a man to six years in prison but gave the man the option of going to ‘drug court.’ While some demand stronger sentences, isn’t it better to give this man – who did not commit a violent crime – a way to turn his life around? We constantly do drug screens, randomly and often twice a week. This guy knows if he misses just one, he is going to prison. That’s a pretty good reason to work very hard in getting your life, and the lives you touch, back in acceptable order.

“The reason the drug court has been such a success is because we can save people at the same time we must administer justice fairly and on behalf of the people who elect us. Any judge in Chattanooga would much rather help a person than jail them,” said the judge who worked his way through UTC and then UT law school. In some cases, Drug Court isn’t an option. “In Criminal Court, where the worst and most violent cases are assigned, often you are dealing with crimes where there is no option but incarceration.”

A casual poll of Chattanooga lawyers – unscientific as it may well be – shows Greenholtz is tremendously appreciated by Chattanooga’s legal community, just as he was so respected when he went before the Governor’s Council for Judicial Appointments. When early voting for the March 1 election begins on Wednesday, there is no question that Tom Greenholtz is the best choice to remain as a Ccriminal court judge in Hamilton County.

As one veteran lawyer said outside the Justice Center this week, “Tom is good, thorough and fair. I donated to his campaign because I firmly believe he’s the guy we need. My lone regret is that he’s so good he ought to head the state’s Court of Appeals or follow his mentor, Mickey Barker, on the state bench. Tom Greenholtz can go anywhere in the judicial system he cares to go.”

Boyd Paterson and Mike Little are well qualified and each stands tall on his merits, but Tom Greenholtz deserves to win the race by a large margin.

royexum@aol.com

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