Harford Business Ledger

Community involvement helps judge maintain balance

Judge Angela Eaves speaks to the Havre de Grace Chamber of Commerce.

Harford County Circuit Court Judge Angela Eaves told members of the Havre de Grace Chamber of Commerce that she has found volunteering helps her maintain balance in her life.

“It’s so easy to get caught up in it,” she said of her job when she spoke at the chamber’s Oct. 8 luncheon meeting at the Bayou Restaurant. Eaves noted that it can be “overwhelming to be bombarded by other peoples problems.” She said serving on board and committees for organizations like the Boys & Girls Clubs has helped her keep a balance in her life. “I think it’s important for a judge to be involved in the community,” Eaves said.

When she became an attorney in Texas she wasn’t sure she ever wanted to be a judge. “I though it would boring, ” she said, pointing out the Lone Start state is home to a number of larger than life lawyers, like criminal defense attorney Richard “Racehorse” Haynes.
She said Haynes has said it is important for defense attorneys to have alternative defenses. Eaves quoted Haynes hypothetical situation where a defendant is being sued because his dog bit someone.

The first defense is to argue, “My dog doesn’t bite.” In the alternative, the argument would be “My dog was tied up at the time” with fallbacks that include “I don’t believe you really got bit” and finally, “I don’t have a dog.”

Eaves said people told her she would make a good judge because she is patient and listens. “Really, I like to be entertained,” she joked.

Eaves, a prosecutor and an assistant attorney general in Texas, was a District Court Judge for more than seven years before being the first woman and the first African-American appointed to the Circuit Court bench in Harford county. She has lived in Maryland for 20 years, the past four in Havre de Grace.

The judge said District Court is “the peoples court” where traffic violations, misdemeanor crimes and cases such like landlord-tenant disputes come to trial. In many cases, the people represent themselves. Eaves said she found it best never to correct those representing themselves even when it’s apparent they don’t know what they’re talking about.

She recalled a case where a woman referred to her husband as “stupid and indignant.” The judge said she asked if the woman meant to say “ignorant.”
“No ma’am” was the reply, “He’s indignant. He don’t know nothin’.”

Eaves observed that, of the three branches of government, people don’t usually think about the judiciary as being involved in problem solving. Sentencing someone to prison for drunk driving or drug use may keep them from hurting others for a while and may change their behavior, she said, but it doesn’t get at the under lying causes of unlawful behavior.

The judge pointed out there are now DUI courts, drug courts for adults and minors, courts for mental health issues, and soon, a truancy court. These bring judges, defendants and their families together with professionals involved in treating the offenders’ behaviors.

October is National Domestic Violence Month, said Eaves, noting that in 2007 there were 688 cases of domestic violence in Harford County. It’s a problem that reaches out beyond the people immediately involved, she said. “It grows spokes,” she commented, noting that boys who have witnessed incidents of domestic violence against their mothers or other females are 11 times more likely to commit such acts as adults than those who weren’t exposed to episodes of violence.

Eaves invited all to participate in a candlelight vigil at 6 p.m. Oct. 26 outside the Circuit Courthouse in Bel Air to remember the victims of domestic violence and raise awareness of the problem.