THE LEGACY OF JUDGE BEN WILLARD

Back when there were no lattes, or macchiatos; back when there were no cell phones to record the consumption of lattes and macchiatos while standing on a bridge with the sun setting on the beach behind the person holding up their latte; back when there  was no Instagram to publicize consumption of the latte on the bridge with the sun setting in the background; there were just...people...and they just did...things. They went about their business and did their best and paid a nickel for a cup-o-joe and didn't feel the compulsion to record and publicize every damn thing they did so the rest of the world would know that they are in South Beach, eating a hamburger, and feeling happy. 

Thus we spent a few moments recently pondering Judge Ben Willard: 

"A man of nature; A man of God; A man of the law; And  A man of the common man."

Judge Willard sat on the bench for twenty-eight years when there was a criminal court of record, which doesn't even exist today. 

We would be hard pressed to name one lawyer who practiced before Judge Willard. But what we do know is that those were not the good old days. Judge Willard  presided over criminal court in Dade County at a time when the police force was segregated and Black officers had authority only to arrest people of color; and Judges more than likely referred to defendants of color as "boy", and there was no such thing as a female Judge or lawyer. 

So we are thinking that right now there is a baby girl somewhere, perhaps of Polynesian-Lithuanian descent, adopted by Greek-Orthodox parents who are refugees in El Salvador- because we are in to multiculturalism. And perhaps someday there will be a webpage celebrating her time as Judge of the Electronic County Court, where all business was conducted over the internet, including trials. Perhaps her parents immigrated  through the President Jared Kushner Wall, legally, via the 2024 immigration deal negotiated with Speaker Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. 

With courts fully electronic, the REGJB is now a repository of servers, and the parking lot Amazon-drone landing zones,  so there is no need for a statute. But maybe her web page would say: 

Judge Alicia Lenani-Tavas. 2045-2090.

"A woman of the cloud; A woman of Instagram (2.9 billion followers); A woman of the law  and a woman of the common user of Facebook and Twitter."

And just for fun her retirement ceremony would be presided over by Chief Justice Robert Luck, because he is so young he will be on the Supreme Court until the next millennium with the current advances in health care.