Tampabay: Judge's words drawing criticism

Judge's words drawing criticism

A judge said she feared sending a man to jail because he would become a sexual target, drawing controversy from across the nation.

By DAVID KARP

TAMPA -- It looked like Circuit Judge Florence Foster might give Paul Hamill one more chance before he wasted away his life.

But then Foster, a judge in Hillsborough County's special drug court, said a few words that turned a routine hearing into a national news story.

In a court hearing in November, Foster said she was not inclined to send the drug addict, who is 5 feet 8 and weighs 175 pounds, to prison. Before she sentences him later this month, Foster wanted Hamill, 41, to undergo psychological evaluations.

"When I looked at him he's a small, thin white man with curly dark hair," Foster said. "And I suspect he would certainly become a sexual target in the Florida state prison system. And I've been told that they can't protect people like that. I'm not going to send a man like this to Florida state prison. That is cruel and unusual punishment in my book."

As Foster faces an avalanche of criticism for her comments, Hamill's family fears the controversy will ruin his chance of getting treatment.

"It's unfortunate she has said that because it caused such an uproar," said Hamill's father, William Hamill, a 75-year-old retiree in Naples. "It was just a poor choice of words. But she is sure trying to help these people."

Since the Tampa Tribune reported Foster's comment on Saturday, newspapers across the country have picked up the story. Officials at the state Department of Corrections read about Foster's remarks in Tallahassee. Even's Hamill's sister saw the item about Foster in the Los Angeles Times.

NAACP state president Adora Ovi Nweze denounced Foster's comments Monday as proof that blacks are treated differently in the criminal justice system than whites.

"It's unfortunate that a judge who was sworn to uphold a system of equity and equality among all people has demonstrated that justice is not blind," she said. "It does see color as an issue."

The Judicial Qualifications Commission, which regulates judicial conduct, could look into Foster's remarks as a possible violation of the judicial canon. Judges aren't supposed to take race into account when presiding over a case.

Foster declined to comment Monday on Hamill's case, which remains before her. But she noted in general terms that drug court serves a special purpose of helping rehabilitate drug addicts.

"Race is not an issue in my courtroom," Foster added. "Each case is treated individually based on the unique facts of that case."

Hamill's family hopes that Foster does not allow the controversy to affect her ruling later this month, when she will sentence Hamill for violating his probation for a prior cocaine possession charge. He failed to report to probation officers after moving to Deltona, which is north of Orlando.

"He doesn't want to go to prison," said Hamill's attorney, Douglas deVlaming. "He feels this article and this publicity will hurt his chances.

"Judge Foster was really trying to do the right thing," he said.