GA: DFCS Judge no longer allowed to handle neglect cases
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fern5 ...@aol.com (Fern5827)
UPDATED: 1:10 P.M.
Judge who left child alone at home stays on bench, but can't handle child-neglect cases By STEVE VISSER and CRAIG SCHNEIDER Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writers Judge Nina Hickson, in her second four-year term, is chief of Fulton County Juvenile Court.
Related: ??? Statement: 'I ... should have known better' ??? Atlanta/South Metro community page Fulton County Superior Court judges Tuesday allowed a juvenile judge to stay on the bench after she recused herself from handling child-neglect cases.
State social workers found Juvenile Court Judge Nina Hickson had committed child neglect last November when she left her 4-year-old daughter home alone at night. After learning about the case last week, Superior Court judges, who appoint Juvenile Court judges, had convened to discuss whether any action should be taken against her.
Hickson informed the judges she would only hear juvenile delinquency cases --
not ones involving parenting -- until after judicial and police investigations of her conduct were concluded.
"We're satisfied with Judge Hickson's voluntary recusal," said Chief Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Long.
Child advocates, lawyers and judges had questioned whether Hickson should hear neglect cases because of fears she might be seen as biased. Some judges also were troubled Hickson didn't report the incident to Superior Court judges nor to her colleagues on the juvenile bench.
The state Department of Family and Children Services informed Hickson Dec. 5 it had found she had committed a one-time case of neglect. The state Judicial Qualifications Commission announced Monday that it was investigating whether the judge should stay on the bench after learning about the issue from the media. Atlanta Police have said they are also investigating.
Long refused to elaborate further on the meeting, which was closed to the public, saying it was a personnel issue. She noted the turnout of 17 of 19 Superior Court judges for the meeting showed they took the issue seriously.
As fellow judges consider case, Fulton jurist said she make mistake in leaving child alone By STEVE VISSER and CRAIG SCHNEIDER Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writers Fulton County Juvenile Court Judge Nina Hickson issued a public apology Monday as two more inquiries began regarding her leaving her 4-year-old daughter home alone while she ran a late-night errand.
The state Judicial Qualifications Commission announced Monday that it was investigating whether Hickson's behavior in the Nov. 29 incident makes her unsuitable for the Juvenile Court bench or whether she should be disciplined.
Separately, Fulton County Superior Court judges, who appointed Hickson, will meet Tuesday to discuss the matter and possible action against her, Chief Judge Elizabeth Long said.
"Everything will be on the table -- people are concerned," Long said.
A number of lawyers, psychologists and child advocates have raised concerns about Hickson's action -- with some urging that she be replaced -- because she judges parents charged with neglect in similar cases, Long said.
Hickson, a 43-year-old single parent, acknowledged in a two-page written statement that she made a mistake in leaving her daughter, Wesley Victoria, home alone to make a dash back to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport to claim a piece of luggage.
"I, of all people, should have known better," the judge said.
Hickson said she and her daughter had returned home from a trip about 10:45 p.m. and she thought her daughter was safely asleep for the night when she decided to go to the airport.
But a p***er-by found the girl wandering on an East Point street, looking for her mother, and called authorities.
East Point police contacted Atlanta police, who returned the girl to her mother.
Hickson said police called the state Division of Family and Children Services that evening. On Dec. 1, she said, she called the DFCS deputy administrator for Fulton County to inform her about her child-neglect case.
'No history' of neglect The state DFCS' Special Investigation Unit handled the inquiry because county DFCS officials work closely with Hickson, said Renee Huie, DFCS spokeswoman.
Hickson said investigators interviewed her and her daughter and inspected her home and determined that the incident represented neglect.
DFCS devised a plan for the judge to keep the child safe and notified her on Dec. 5 that the case was closed, Huie said.
"If it is a situation in which there is no future risk to the child, as best as can be determined, the case is closed," Huie said. "There is no history [of neglect] involving the judge in the [DFCS] computerized system." Fulton County Superior Court judges were to meet at 8 a.m. Tuesday to discuss Hickson.
Some judges have raised concerns that she didn't report the Nov. 29 incident to the Superior Court or to her Juvenile Court colleagues immediately.
Atlanta police also began an investigation recently. ***istant police ChiefAlan Dreher said the delay occurred because the patrol officers didn't forward their report to the Crimes Against Women and Children Unit until after a media inquiry.
The department now will review its procedures and policies regarding incidents involving children, he said.
The Judicial Qualifications Commission said a story, first reported in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution over the weekend, also prompted it to investigate Hickson. The commission investigates complaints about judges and issues opinions to the state Supreme Court regarding judicial conduct.
The commission specifically investigates conduct "prejudicial to the administration of justice which brings the judicial office into disrepute," according to its Web site.
The seven-member commission can recommend varying levels of punishment, ranging from private warnings to suspension to removal.
The commission consists of two judges, three lawyers and two lay members. One seat is currently vacant.
But the final decision on any discipline rests with the state Supreme Court.
Rick McDevitt, president of the Georgia Alliance for Children, said Hickson needs to take a voluntary leave of absence until the matter is fully resolved.
"The problem is her credibility, because she hears this kind of cases and admonishes the parents on poor decision making," McDevitt said. "I don't see how until this cloud of suspicion is resolved she can continue to hear these types of cases." Hickson, who is in her second four-year term, is the chief judge of the Juvenile Court.
She was first appointed in 1997, and among her supporters for the post were former U.S. Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson and Richard Deane and Kent Alexander, both former U.S. attorneys for the Northern District of Georgia.
A 'personal failing' In her public statement Monday, Hickson indicated she wanted to remain on the bench.
She called the incident a "personal failing" but insisted it in no way reflected a lack of concern for her child or toward the children and families who appeared before her in court.
"If I could turn back time, I would," Hickson said. "I would have wrapped my daughter up in a blanket and taken her to the airport with me, or waited until the next day to go there, or had the bag delivered to the house." "There are only a handful of things worth breaking one's neck to have," Hickson added. "Tuesday, I know that a missing suitcase is not one of them. But my daughter is." Find this article at: http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/atlanta/0104/06judge.html EMAIL THIS | Close Check the box to include the list of links referenced in the article. DESCRIPTORS; CPS, GEORGIA, DFACS, CHILD NEGLECT, CHILD ABUSE, FAMILY LAW, IMMUNITY, GA, JUDICIAL MISCONDUCT, PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT, HOME ALONE, PARENTAL RIGHTS
"bobb" bob...@ix.netcom.com
Is this a big issue over nothing? One may wish to label it 'neglect' which is a code word for every behavior someone else disagrees with. Perhaps an 'error in judgement' might be more appropriate.
I would suggest that the Judge, finding that her daughter was awake and outside the house, would be frightful enough to never leave here alone again. A lesson that was probably learned without having 25 or 30 other people having to point it out.
Her personal experience might even make her a better judge but that, too, will be denied.
I have to wonder how many who were placed in the positition of evaluating the judge never made an error in judgement? Most likey they were never caught.
bobb
fern5 ...@aol.com (Fern5827)
Bobb, you may not have read further into the case, but apparently it is a breach of JUDICIAL ETHICS, not to have reported the incident to her Supervisor at the Superior Court, nor reported on it to her colleagues.
And the story was buried by DFCS from when in occurred Nov 29, until now.
But I do agree that one who never, ever made an error in judgement has probably never lived.
However, given the animosity towards CPS which is validated even by the ABA attendees (April 2003) issue of ABA Journal, one should expect severe sanctions.
Comp***ion is a virtue which many folks lack. Others term it empathy.
Bobb posted: descriptors; GA, CPS, DFCS, DFACS, GEORGIA, FOSTER CARE, ADOPTION, FAMILY LAW, IMMUNITY, JUDICIAL MISCONDUCT, JUDGES, CHILD PROTECTIVE
Gree ...@hotmail.com (Greg Hanson)
This case shows what hypocrisy exists in the system.
Judge is NOT getting treated like other parents do.
She "dodged the bullet" by way of her connections.
Her comments about having more empathy for parents who made a mistake might have made her a more pro-parent judge. Can't have that, so she is now considered to be biased.
Wasn't she biased before?
Bias against parents is fine with CPS.
Bias sympathetic with parents is not.
"Dan Sullivan" dsull...@optonline.net
She was "founded" for neglect.
I wonder if she's gonna challenge the finding.
Can ya have a Judge with a DUI record judging people who've been charged with driving under the influence?
Not even the APPEARANCE of impropriety.
Was she?
Got proof?
Dan
"bobb" bob...@ix.netcom.com
That is an interesting question. I recall a cl*** room excerise of many years ago. You use the key word 'appearace' as if Judges never ever drove drunnk in their life.... meaning that they just didn't get caught. People from all walks of life make mistakes but we seem to have lost perspective about things that are really important or not. The trival now takes center stage. We have become a nasty, vindictive nation.. with everyone trying to get even with another to the extreme. The zero-tolerance attitutude prevails in every walk of life.
bobb
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