Editor’s note:
This column was written by Bill Torpy and published in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and on ajc.com on Feb. 19. Torpy is a highly-respected roving reporter/opinion columnist for the Atlanta newspaper and its online platforms. This is his long view of the happenings within the Griffin Judicial Circuit, which includes our neighbors in Pike, Spalding, Upson and Fayette counties, over the years. His views are his - not ours - and received the approval of the AJC editorial board.
What do you think? Is Torpy on target or is he way off base? You may respond via a letter to the editor or by commenting on our website at barnesville.com.
By Bill Torpy
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ten years ago, I headed south to the Griffin Judicial Circuit to cover a brewing scandal in which two of the district’s four Superior Court judges had to resign suddenly in disgrace.
The sordid escapade centered around a bitter court case and the proclivities of two veteran judges, to wit: Judge Johnnie Caldwell was accused of repeatedly harassing a woman lawyer with crude sexual comments. I mean really raunchy stuff that would make a salty bailiff blush.
And then Judge Paschal English — who was beloved as “Pappy” on the TV show “Survivor” — pulled the rip cord after it was revealed he was having a fling with a public defender who routinely appeared in his courtroom. A cop caught them having sex in a car.
The small-town ties, the conflicts, the secretive doings and the raging gossip all turned this circuit, which includes Fayette, Spalding, Pike and Upson counties, into a version of another old TV show: “Laugh-in.”
Well, they’re not done in the Griffin Circuit, not by a long shot.
In 2010, Superior Court Judge Mack Crawford, a former state legislator and mule dealer (No, I am not joking) was appointed by the governor after the other two judges were bounced. This month, Crawford tendered his resignation in a sweet plea deal that let him largely off the hook and leaves the door open for him to get back on the bench.
What was Judge Crawford pleading to? Well, he was charged with stealing $15,675 that was lying around in the court’s registry and using the money to pay off some debts. He repaid the money once the GBI started snooping around but was still charged with a felony in late 2018.
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