Podcast appearances and mentions of judge edwards

Lafayette City Marshal Reggie Thomas joined Discover Lafayette to discuss his mission to protect the citizens of Lafayette and to become the best marshal's office nationally. A 30-year veteran of the Lafayette City Police Department who worked his way up the ranks, as a detective and eventually serving as deputy and interim chief of police, Marshal Reggie was elected Lafayette City Marshal in December 2020. On January 8th, 2025, he celebrated his fourth anniversary in office. Of note, Marshal Reggie was the first African American to be elected citywide in the history of Lafayette. The Marshal's office is chiefly responsible for keeping the city court safe and secure, serving subpoenas to people called to court, and executing arrest warrants for people who have not complied with the law or court order. In the City of Lafayette, there are two city court judges, Judge Douglas J. Saloom and interim Judge Vanessa Harris, who was called to served upon the untimely death of Judge Jules Edwards. Salary and benefits for the marshal's office staff are paid for by the City of Lafayette. Everything else is funded by a percentage of criminal and civil fines and fees paid for citations and tickets. The employees are at-will employees. "We have 32 sworn officers, as well as ten reserve officers. We have another 30 to 35 clerks that work in the building, handling the court, the tickets, the civil part,the criminal part, and the supervisors. We might have 400 people come through the door on any given day, and each person has to be searched to make sure everyone is safe." The City Court territorial jurisdiction extends over all territory in the corporate limits of the City of Lafayette, plus the Third and Tenth Wards of Lafayette Parish. The court handles claims for personal injury, general damages, contract, open account, and commercial paper where the amount of the claim doesn't exceed $35,000, and small claims suits that do not exceed $5,000. It also handles landlord-tenant matters (Evictions) and violations of state misdemeanor criminal laws and/or Lafayette Consolidated Government City Ordinance violations that occur within the City of Lafayette. First time domestic violence cases also go through City Court. Marshal Reggie mentioned the important work of the late Judge Jules Edwards, who endeavored to assist first time offenders, to keep them from getting in deeper trouble and ending up in Angola. When Marshal Reggie was elected, they started the "Renewal Program", where participants learn to manage anger, control their behavior, and become better citizens. Upon completing the program, their efforts are recognized, and they have the opportunity to move forward with a clean slate by having their offense expunged from their record. "The renewal program was something that I started when I first took office, along with Judge Edwards. When a first time offender gets sentenced by the judge, normally they have to do community service. With this program, they attend eight weeks of classes and we have people that have made major mistakes come in and talk to them. Maybe a guy that did 25 years in jail or was on drugs, stuff like that. So we show them things that, hey, this is where you don't want to be at, but this is what you can accomplish if you're doing the right thing." Seventy juveniles have participated so far with great success. "Most schools have zero tolerance. Now, if you get in a fight at school, you go to jail. Some of us older people remember when we were in school, you would have to go sit in a corner after a fight, but you didn't go to jail. So now, you are arrested, you have to come to court and pay fines. I started seeing where the parents weren't able to pay the fines, and the kids would wind up in juvenile detention. So the Renewal Program gives a second chance and the charge won't remain on their permanent record. The kids have to be serious about the program, can't miss any days,

Interim LUL President & CEO, Lyndon Pryor is joined by Honorable Brian Edwards, Circuit Court Judge Division 11 (and also Louisville Urban League Board Member). Judge Edwards shares his professional history from his early years as a public defender, to over a decade in private practice as a criminal defense attorney, and his appointment to circuit court judge in 2009. When he's not serving in a judicial capacity, Judge Edwards can be found on the soccer field as one of the co-Directors and Founders of the West Louisville Soccer Club. Pryor and Edwards breach the subjects of education and the current legislative push against CRT, gun violence, and the DOJ investigation into the Louisville Metro Police Department.

This week we're thrilled to share a conversation with The Honorable Leonard Edwards, who joins us to talk about his recent article on the urgency of placing children with relatives. A retired judge now working as a consultant and educator on judicial best practices, Judge Edwards served as a Superior Court Judge in Santa Clara County for 26 years, and then served six years as Judge-in-Residence at the Center for Families, Children & the Courts, a division of the Judicial Council of California. He also helped start one of the largest CASA programs in California. Support the show (https://texascasa.org/how-to-help/give/)

Judge Jules Edwards has served in the 15th Judicial District Court for 27 years. He joined Jan Swift of Discover Lafayette to discuss what he's learned from working in the state court system and his concomitant desire to help at-risk youth address behavioral problems before they end up in jail. Judge Edwards is a candidate for Lafayette City Court Judge in the upcoming election on November 3, 2020. A native of New Orleans and a graduate of Loyola and Loyola Law School, Jules Edwards has served as a Judge for the 15th Judicial District Court since January 1, 1993. He has been a pioneer in effectively rehabilitating offenders and turning around lives through drug courts and re-entry courts. Judge Edwards thanked his parents for stressing servant leadership and the importance of obtaining an education. Jules Edwards, Jr., father of Judge Jules Edwards III, operated Edwards Shoe Service in New Orleans. He would famously say, "I will heel you, I will save your soul, I will even dye for you!" Judge Edwards has distinguished himself with lifelong service to our country, state, and community. He enlisted in the U. S. Marine Corps Reserve in the summer of his freshman year in college in 1977; he served in the Louisiana National Guard until 2007, retiring as a Colonel and recognized as the best Staff Judge Advocate in the United States. At the request of Major General Gary Whipple of Louisiana, Edwards served as Inspector General, working to ensure that the units were following proper procedures. He credits his time in the military for building his character, teaching him discipline, and instilling honor and integrity into his daily actions. "Serving in the U. S. Marine Corps Reserve taught me perseverance and how to work well with others in a selfless manner. At times, the relentless challenges we faced in training were overwhelming, but I learned that I could get through each moment, one moment at a time. " A former Chair of the Louisiana Judiciary Commission, Edwards was inducted into the Louisiana Justice Hall of Fame in 2013. He is Past-President of the Louisiana District Judges Association. Edwards is currently a member of the Advisory Council on Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education, and a Member of the Louisiana Drug Policy Board. He has worked with the Louisiana Sentencing Commission to assist the judiciary and the legislature in formulating and implementing a uniform sentencing policy to ensure that judges throughout Louisiana provide consistency in their rulings. Edwards has created and taught classes through the Judicial College to train judges on how to utilize evidence-based practices, and how to respond to people in highly charged environments by being attentive and respectful. Judge Jules D. Edwards, III is married to Orida Broussard Edwards, and they have three adult children. His wife, Orida, has been practicing law since 1986, daughter Juliesa has been practicing law since 2016, daughter-in-law, Brittany started her practice in 2019, youngest son Julien is a financial advisor, and oldest son Jules, IV is a veteran, student, and co-owner of a small business. Anytime a person is arrested in Lafayette Parish on a drug charge, they are assigned to Judge Edwards' Court. His goal is to nudge the drug offender from "'The Road to Perdition' to the road to success." He shared that "one of the principal difficulties in society is that we don't do an adequate job of socializing, there is no focused effort to develop young people's character. While this is not done on purpose, they make decisions based upon what brings pleasure at that moment. They don't think about eventual pain or how their behavior impacts others. But there are evidence-based procedures to get someone back on track." He further states, "It is important not to judge a person just because of the stupidest decision they make on the worst day of their life. People grow, they do change."

As the City of St Louis' website explains, "Judge Edwards earned an undergraduate degree in 1978 and a law degree in 1982 from St. Louis University. He rose through private and public legal positions to the legal staff of Southwestern Bell Telephone Company in 1990. From there he was appointed to the St. Louis Circuit Court. He was the Administrative Judge of the Family Court and Chief Juvenile Court Judge from 2007 to 2012." Edwards was appointed as Public Safety Director by Mayor Krewson in the fall of 2017. Here's a glance at how the conversation went: Chapter 1. "It's what you do for others that matters most." How Edwards came to be a judge appointed to the distinguished role of Public Safety Director. (0:00-8:15) Chapter 2.  Judge Edwards says he has "High expectations... for all of the 3600 people that work for [him]..." and they're not the only ones; Judge Edwards has earned respect from police and "crooks" alike. (8:15-11:30) Chapter 3. "Our City is basically safe." While this may be the case, Judge Edwards understands that we "have to be smarter about how we utilize our [police] officers," if we want citizens to feel safe. (11:30-19:15) Chapter 4. But 205 murders last year! The public must be a part of public safety and this will require courage from citizens. (19:15-24:15) Chapter 5.  Edwards envisions "A community where your grandkids can walk to the corner store without the fear of being hurt." When it comes to better crime fighting, Edwards says, "It is my job to root out the bad police officers, but I also need help from the police officers on the inside." Similarly, he needs the support of the community to keep criminals off the streets. (24:15-29:00) Chapter 6. "We're not going to incarcerate our way out of crime" in our communities. Plus a surprising reality-check looking at white-on-white vs black-on-black crimes. (29:00-34:30) Chapter 7. Dating back to the Dred Scott trial held here, the City of St Louis has been on the cutting edge of changing America and Edwards sees us as continuing to lead when it come to police relations as well. At the end of the day, "Reducing Crime is [Edwards'] number one goal..." and it's what he knows best. (34:30-41:20) You can also catch guest host Hank Thompson on the air Sunday nights at 6pm on 88.7 WSIE. Andy Heaslet is the show's engineer. *Wishing you well, DJ Wilson!*

After beginning with, let’s face it, nonsense, we respond to listener feedback (beginning at 8:30) on, among other topics, speed traps, Serial, and Judge Edwards’ critique of legal scholarship. We wind up discussing reasonable doubt and probability (beginning at about 30:00). This show’s links: Judge John Hodgman Episode 18: Oral Argument (with Tom Goldstein), featuring Josh Stein’s paper Richard Stallman’s info packet Episode 44: Serial Natasha Vargas-Cooper, Jay, Key Witness from “Serial” Tells His Story for First Time, parts one, two, and three Slate’s Serial Spoiler Special podcast discussing the Jay interviews Ezra Klein, Serial Revisited Susan Simpson’s The View from LL2 blog Rene Stutzman, Lawsuits by Drivers Ticketed for Flashing Headlights Produce Change, No Money Episode 43: Some Stuff I Like and Some Stuff I Don’t, featuring some speed trap discussion and our discussion of Judge Edwards’ critique of legal scholarship Gross, O’Brien, Hu, and Kennedy, Rate of False Conviction of Criminal Defendants Who are Sentenced to Death Christian’s silly wrongful conviction calculator, which you can copy and paste into the wonderful Calca app All about the Innocence Project Kevin Drum, America’s Real Criminal Element: Lead Dragonslayer, the 1981 film The Flynn effect Philosophy Bites: Hugh Mellor on Probability, a fascinating episode of a great series of brief discussions on philosophy

We’re back. Speed traps, the police, and Judge Edwards’ renewed attack on modern legal scholarship. This show’s links: Complaint in Jarman v. City of Grain Valley Elli v. City of Ellisville Oral Argument 7: Speed Trap and Oral Argument 8: Party All over the World City of Warrensville Hts. v. Wason (the speed trap case in which the dissent cites Kant’s categorical imperative and which we mentioned at the end of episode 9) About “contempt of cop” Raizel Liebler and Keidra Chaney, TLF Recommended Podcasts by and for Best Friends (recommending us (thanks!) alongside Denzel Washington Is the Greatest Actor of All Time, Period.) Michael Dorf, Judge Harry Edwards Is Still Unimpressed With Legal Scholarship Harry Edwards, Another Look at Professor Rodell’s Goodbye to Law Reviews