I’m about as conservative as I can be, which means that to some degree, I’ve drifted away from the direction that the national party has seen fit to move since 1988, when Ronnie left office. I believe in true conservative principles in economics; in social programs; in national defense; and in crime and punishment issues, which is the main topic of this letter.

I’ve been a practicing trial attorney for 15 years. My early career found me representing defendants in criminal court. Having come from a very law-abiding and order upbringing, I had to first wrestle with my own biases and prejudices before I could honestly represent an accused in a criminal forum. I was pro-death penalty, pro-harsh penalties for violent crimes against people, and more specifically, children; so I had to first examine my own principles and ethics to be sure that I could represent those accused in a manner to which the law allowed.

It didn’t take me too long to find that I could proudly stand as a conservative and still help defend some of the worst of our society. It was not a pleasant experience meeting some of the more violent and evil people in our nation, but, I discovered two major reasons why I could do so and do so anchored in the foundations of my political faith.

The first hurdle I faced was to embrace the Constitution as if it were my Bible. I read and re-read thousands of cases, studied the best of the legal scholars, and then went first-hand into the jails and courthouses of our criminal justice system, and I found that I could unashamedly and proudly stand on my personal political convictions while fervently defending the accused ... even when I knew they were guilty.

I could morally do this without reservation when I read our Constitution and of our Bill of Rights. They were more than words written upon a paper some 200 years ago. Words have no meaning unless we give them the force of our convictions, and toward that end, I was enthusiastically defending my clients from being held accountable to a standard that was not found in our laws.

Plainly stated, my job as a defense lawyer, was to insure that the state and judge followed the rule of law. Which brings up my second reason of how I came to terms in being a conservative and in being a criminal defense lawyer.

What I found in our judicial system, throughout Georgia, was that the state had the authority to prosecute and punish the accused, but they did so by employing ordinary human beings to serve that purpose. Yes, ordinary human beings, who bring with them ordinary human perspectives, which sometimes ... well, often times, got in the way of justice being served.

Prosecutors and even judges are no different than you or I, with this exception, that they are sworn to uphold the laws of the state of Georgia and of our U.S. Constitution above and beyond their secondary purpose, which is to convict and punish criminals. You read that right: Justice is the purpose of the justice system, not to prosecute criminals unless this serves a “just” cause.

I know what I am writing may offend many of you. I know I’ve grappled with this my entire legal career, but, there are many prosecutors and judges that do not need to be prosecuting cases whatsoever. They are rogue warriors, who find that the Constitution often stands in the way of their vigor to prosecute and to punish. Sometimes these motives are sincere, e.g., when a criminal case of an obviously guilty individual teeters on the admissibility of one small piece of evidence that was illegally obtained by the prosecution or police.

The pressure from the public is to convict, convict, convict, while their oaths of duty require justice, justice, justice. For a prosecutor or a judge to allow a obviously guilty man to go free on a constitutional technicality is to suggest they are soft on crime, a charge that resonates easily among the voting public. No judge or prosecutor can allow the charge of being soft on crime stand, the electorate will see to that.

I can not explain to you every time I came across an injustice that was actually perpetrated upon my clients under the guise of a prosecutor or judge who has forgotten their oaths. They are too many to count. I KNOW I’ve had several clients who were falsely accused and convicted of crimes they did not commit (some serving life sentences. John Grisham’s fictional novels have no comparison to many of my real cases.)

I know that from my personal experiences, which cannot be conveyed in a letter to the editor, but its true. The news repeatedly reports on DNA testing, unknown 15-20 years ago, now being used to prove the innocence of many men who refused to admit their crimes, thus insuring their continued presence in prison. (Acknowledgment of one’s crime goes far in parole hearings, and many of these innocent men refused to admit their guilt, even when freedom was about one word away. Are you guilty of this crime? Yes.)

I’ve also known several good friends who crossed over to the prosecution and who became intoxicated with the power of punishment. They literally held in their hands, the very life of the accused. For many, this thrill is almost like a drug. The need to prosecute and punish takes precedent over their duty to seek justice. They forget all else except feeding their egos by weighing in their hands the lives of those they have been charged with prosecuting.

A former prosecutor and continued friend, explained it to me in embarrassing terms. She said it was the most exciting thing she had ever found. She became so ensconced in her belief that these criminals were all guilty, that she rarely considered their possible innocence. She lost all of her former friends and colleagues who shunned her because she arrogantly believed she was the final arbiter of all that was right and just. She told me her head almost exploded from the ego trip she was on.

It takes a lot of courage and discipline to take the reins of being a prosecutor and to do so under the restraints of our Constitution. Criminals should be prosecuted and should be punished, but, and this is the hard part, they should be prosecuted fairly and consistently with the model of our Constitution as the standard of proof.

A slick voter pamphlet that trumpets the number of cases tried and won, or appeals upheld, sounds good to the voters, but it does not take into consideration those underlying issues, rarely seen by the public. To be a true and honest prosecutor requires the most strongest of characters, whose concern for the “perspectives” of the voting public is never, ever considered.

That’s the kind of prosecutor and judge that we need in Fayette. Judge Rowland Barnes, who was murdered in his courtroom in Fulton County two years ago, was a dear, dear man. I routinely had been before him, and I found him to be one of them most compassionate judges I’ve ever been before. I often wondered how he kept his personal feelings from doing his job. Many of his decisions might have been criticized for being soft on crime, but I found him to a man of conviction and of principle, who was “hard on our Constitution.” He made sure that in his courtroom, the Constitution was all that mattered, so he often did things that might have offended the average voter, but, he allowed his sworn oath to be his only consideration.

When I read about all of the negative comments online and in these campaigns about Scott Ballard, I am saddened that I do not have the ability to convey how very important it is that our elected district attorney is a man of principle, of compassion, and of the highest ethics.

Scott has done several things which were not politically “expedient,” no doubt, but I personally applaud him for standing up for what is right and for what is fair, rather than for appeasing a public which cannot fully appreciate every reason why this case or that case wasn’t prosecuted the way certain bloggers or readers believe it should have been.

Scott left a very profitable and comfortable private practice to take a position of trust, making much less than he made in the past. He saw a need and he knew he could bring to the district attorney’s office the experience and character of a DA that prosecuted criminals for the sake of justice, not in spite of it.

That, citizens of Fayette, is sorely needed today in our criminal justice system. The sworn oath and allegiance that our district attorney, and judges, prosecute only with the authority and mandate of a just system predicated upon the laws of our state and country, and embedded in our Constitution.

Many of my political friends will perhaps mockingly describe me as having found a liberal streak in me in this opinion letter. For that I am sorry. Because I know how very hard it is for us to read about the many cases of crime that are being perpetuated across this state and nation where obviously guilty men go free and unpunished.

But, worse still than that, is when we allow personal egos and political whims to dictate our justice system, rather than a stoic and disciplined approach to seeking justice in all matters.

One merely look back one year, to the DA in North Carolina who followed the political winds of the public, when he violated every oath of office in attempting to prosecute the Duke lacrosse team. Lives were shattered all because this DA found it politically expedient to ignore his oath of office and to seek punishment rather than to seek justice.

Those falsely accused from Duke deserved the protection of the Constitution which was required of that DA; instead they found his decisions to be politically motivated so that he would not be accused of being “soft on crime.” He resoundingly won re-election with his stance that he was “hard on crime.”

Mr. Ballard’s opponent may very well be a talented trial lawyer, and even a better campaigner. He may very well do an exceptional job as DA. I’m just wary of anyone who wants and seemingly needs that much authority. Quitting from the DA’s office, and then purchasing a home in this district, so as to allow him to run, sounds almost desperate and calculating, two qualities that a DA shouldn’t have.

Fayette County deserves better. Our Constitution demands it, I certainly hope our voters will as well.

P.S. I do not nor have I had any criminal cases before either of these prosecutors. I abandoned criminal defense work almost seven years ago. My passion still remains with our Constitution, and the fundamental belief in its most wonderful rights given to all of us. This letter was merely an attempt at trying to explain in a perspective not often heard from in today’s public debates, about the very real and apparent need that we have in our justice system firmly grounded in our U.S. and state constitutions by men and women of character, integrity, and conviction. Traits, I have unfortunately found lacking across the hundreds of cases I handled in my earlier career.

Richard D. Hobbs

Attorney at Law

Fayetteville, Ga.