  Lansing has two Town Justices, and one of those four-year terms is up this year. Judge John Howell is running unopposed for his fifth term on the Lansing bench. He has lived in Lansing all his life, and he and his wife Carol have a sons who lives in Syracuse, and a daughter at Cornell School of Veterinary Medicine.
Howell has been a facilities manager for some of the biology departments at Cornell for 25 years. With both a biology and a construction background, he says it's a perfect fit. Carol has her own home decoration business, called ‘Creations by Carol.' Howell was inspired to become a judge by the two judges who preceded him, Fred Spry and Floyd Ferris, family friends who sat on the Lansing bench for about 30 years. He was appointed to finish Spry's term when the judge passed away, and has been there ever since.
The Lansing Star spoke to Judge Howell in the Town courtroom last week, where he talked about why he is running for another term, and his approach to and philosophy of presiding over a courtroom.
Lansing Star: Why are you the best candidate and
what unique benefits do you bring to the job?
John Howell: I've been doing this for 16
years. I have a good sense of the
community, and so I'm looking to continue making Lansing a safe place to live
and grow your family.
LS: Why did you want to become a judge?
JH: For the same types of ideas.
I knew the two previous judges really well and they represented a
fairness. I don't have a cop background
or a legal background, but I have always been looking at what's fair and what's
good for the community. So I certainly
am interested in the legal part. You
have to be interested in the laws and the procedures. It is very interesting.
It's a challenge because it is not stagnant. Every year it's something new.
LS: I would think it would be difficult not having a legal or law
enforcement background.
You need to be in control but you're also just part of the
process. It's important because it is
all about the jury. It really is a
process to make sure that, as much as possible, the jury understands their
role. JH: Actually I'm not sure.
If you've been following the press over the last two years there are
1800 judges of what we call the town and village judges in the state and only
400 of those are lawyers. So they gear
it in a way, we get trained and we get continual paperwork and education to
make sure we have the background to do it.
So I'm not sure... certainly there are motion papers and legal steps that
allow background but in some ways this is more about community and about coming
up with good judgment and making sure you know the law. So that works out well.
LS: I was actually in your court.
I was called for jury duty not too long ago and I was disappointed not
to be chosen, though I didn't think you would choose a journalist.
JH: Anyone is (eligible),even judges and cops, and anyone now. No one is rejected any more. I've had six jury trials in the last 10
months. That's a lot for me.
LS: You were matter of fact, and I thought you were not
intimidating to potential jurors.
JH: You need to be in control but you're also just part of the
process. It's important because it is
all about the jury. It really is a
process to make sure that, as much as possible, the jury understands their
role. So you really have to set it up
that way and most of the DAs and the defense attorneys really understand local
court. It's a little different than
felony court or county court. It's
still important, still some person versus some defendant. There's a lot at stake.
LS: When you get a case do you tend to be letter of the law or
spirit of the law?
JH: That's a good question.
I guess it depends upon the case.
A lot has to do with what type of a case it is. There is a lot of press about domestic
violence. With orders of protection you
really have to be the letter of the law there because the risk is so
great. There's no question you really
have to be on your toes.
It really depends on the
case. If it's a first time offender,
especially a young person and they can document that they are either trying to
go to school, or get a job, or trying to get their act together, then yes, you
can be a bit more lenient. But it
really depends upon the case and the background of the individual.
On the other hand you have to be
fair and consistent. What's crucial to
me is...what's tough about this job no matter if you know them or not or who they
are you have to try to be fair and consistent.
That's what's tough about this job.
LS: That anticipates my next question. I would think that one of the things that would be very difficult
for any judge or attorney is to separate political or
philosophical beliefs from what's going on in your courtroom. How do you do that?
JH: It's interesting.
Certainly years ago I was very strong and political or even
philosophical. When you get up on the
bench you get (to play) a role where you realize it's more important to be fair
and to understand the law and to really do the best you can for each case.
So yes, it's a challenge. I've lived here my whole life, know a lot of
people, a lot of people know me, but on the other hand it doesn't matter if you
know me or not. The challenge is to be
fair and consistent and very early on you learn to sort that out and I think
it's just because of the role that you take on and how you are trained. If that's the priority it's not that hard.
LS: I guess the use of the word ‘role' is pertinent to this because
basically that's what an actor does.
You're not watching John Gielgud; you're watching the character that he
created. In that case it's fiction --
in this case it's a pretty well defined role in reality.
You see
somebody, and it's not a TV show, this is real people. We get these reports from when I actually
have to sentence somebody we'll get these reports from probation and they are
very thorough. JH: It's a one to one. When
I'm up at the bench, and people will tell you that, I try to get, whether it's
brief or not, I try to get to know everyone as an individual. So you still have to get on to the next case
but it's something that makes it interesting and that's why I come back every
week and have been doing this for so many years, because it's a challenge to do
the best job that you can.
LS: Do you ever just feel so sorry for some poor person that didn't
know any better?
JH: There are definitely amazing cases that, even at our level,
whether they are a kleptomaniac or their life is all about petty larceny. It's amazing how they have to spend their
whole life around that minor petty larceny, shoplifting, that sort of thing.
Or obviously the whole issue
with drugs and alcohol. You see
somebody, and it's not a TV show, this is real people. We get these reports from when I actually
have to sentence somebody we'll get these reports from probation and they are
very thorough. That's probably my best
ally, getting information when I have to do a tough sentence. You can read the life history of some of
these people and it's very sad. It's
tough sometimes.
LS: This is something you alluded to before, that in a local court
like ours, especially since you grew up here, you're bound to know some of the
defendants. So how do you handle
that? Do you pass the ones you know off
to Bill Burin?
JH: Yes, anybody that is related to me has to get passed off to
Bill or another judge. If there is a
close friend particularly if you're legally or financially involved with
anyone, or a close friend connection we're bound - the word is ‘recuse.' We recuse ourselves and Bill and I -- and
obviously a lot of people know Judge Burin, too, so yes, we do that.
Other than that most of the
things are pretty straightforward. I'm
not going to give somebody more of a break than I would if I didn't know them
based on what their background is and what the case is.
LS: Or there's the opposite temptation because you know them but
you don't want to appear favoring them.
JH: You hit it right on
the nose.
LS: Sending Paris Hilton to jail longer or shorter
who knows. Glad that's over!
JH: That's for sure.
LS: Do you think that judges should be elected or appointed?
JH: Actually I think elected works fine.
It's interesting if you follow
the city of Ithaca, that is an appointed position. So it certainly depends upon the community. Certainly with the size of a town like
Lansing it's easy it's much better to be elected because it's really an
opportunity where people do get to know who they are voting for and it's not a
matter of politics per se, one party or the other. The only way we can get elected is if we are affiliated with one
party or another. But it's more about
allowing the people to make a choice on who they want to be their local
judge. I'm 100% for that and I think it
works.
LS: If you could change something in the system especially after
being a part of it for 16 years what would that be?
JH: There's a statewide committee that is reviewing the courts at
the local level at the town and village level.
They are proposing some changes that I actually don't mind at all. One is that where you become a court of
record, which means there's actually going to be a record of the proceedings
just like in county court or city court.
LS: I saw that you did have somebody at the trial.
JH: For trial, for all trials we certainly do get a stenographer
because of the chances of an appeal.
You want to make sure that you have an exact transcription and even
during the trial, for example, there will be some question where even when the
jury deliberates they want to come back and ask a question about what did John
say in this case? So they can actually
read back that testimony. So that's
crucial.
So right now it's not
necessarily going to be a person but I think it's going to be some sort of
technology, some digital recorder kind of thing. So it's still only a digital recording but at least there will be
that.
LS: Well of course it's something that can be transcribed later if
need be.
I guess the reason I do this is
to help young people. What I've learned
over the years is you get a lot of young people coming into the court that are
coming in very often for the first time, and you can make a difference for some
of them. JH: Yes. Actually I think
it works very well. There's been a lot
of press about some judges getting in trouble but when you have 1800 judges out
there I don't care if they are lawyers or not there's always going to be some
disgruntled person and there's always going to be something. There are so many things you have to do, and
there are so many things you can never do -- that you're going to get tripped
up.
So I think it works really
well. I really think the local town
judge system... because only about half of the states in the country have this
kind of a system. Judge Burin and I
have both been to some national conferences and it's interesting to compare
other states.
It's surprising what states
don't have this and what states do. In
the Midwest and the West and the South the systems are quite different. Some are much more regional what we call
district judges and courts things like that.
But others just have like New York just have local town judges. I think it works and I think that people being
able to elect their judge and come to court and expect to have a fair proceeding
is very important. I think it works
very well.
LS: What would you like to say about your candidacy that I haven't
asked you?
JH: Just that I appreciate the support of the community. I appreciate the support of the Town
Board. The Town Board has been very
supportive. And of course we are
growing. The computers and electronic
technology and the Board and the community has been very supportive over the
years.
I guess the reason I do this is
to help young people. What I've learned
over the years is you get a lot of young people coming into the court that are
coming in very often for the first time, and you can make a difference for some
of them. So that's what you really try
to do. Not that I'm going to change the
world, but there is just one little piece that maybe you do. Later in life I do follow up on some of
these and it seems like they are changing their lives around. So there's some kind of reward there.
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