Judge shares insights to law career

By JEN COWART
Posted 10/26/18

“The Law and You” pathways students in Ann Marie Torres’ class at Park View Middle School welcomed a guest speaker, Rhode Island Family Court Judge Howard Lipsey, earlier this month. Lipsey has …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

E-mail
Password
Log in

Judge shares insights to law career

Posted

“The Law and You” pathways students in Ann Marie Torres’ class at Park View Middle School welcomed a guest speaker, Rhode Island Family Court Judge Howard Lipsey, earlier this month. Lipsey has been a Family Court judge since 1993 and gave the students some insight into his journey from his early education through the present as well as what it means to be a judge in today’s world. His visit came as the nomination hearings for Supreme Court Judge Brett Kavanaugh were underway.

Judge Lipsey began by taking about his years as a student.

“I was just like you today, once sitting in the seats just like you’re sitting in now,” he said. “I attended the Providence Public Schools at Ruggles Street School, Candace Street School, Nathaniel Green Junior High School and Hope High School.”

He told the student that being present in those seats is not enough to make the difference for them in their lives.

“What will you do with your education? Will you just sit there in your seats or will you do something with it,” he asked them. “Ask yourself, where do you want to go? What do I want to do with my life? Do I want to make my life better, make my family’s life better? Those are the questions only you can answer. No one can make those decisions for you.”

In his family court, Judge Lipsey passes along similar advice to many of the juveniles he sees before him.

“I see kids involved with gangs, they bunk school, and the sad part is that they’re smart, but they’re not making their families proud,” he said. “No one can do that for you, no one can make you successful, you have to do that yourself.”

As a young student, Lipsey did not know what he wanted to be after graduation. The turning point came during his senior year of high school.

“I was in my senior year at Hope High School and I was part of the Model Legislature. As part of that they used to pick different kids from different schools and I was picked to go down to URI on a Saturday to go be on the Model Legislature,” he said. “It was a snowy day and I called home to tell them that I was going to be a little bit late, and I told them, ‘Oh by the way, I know what I want to be,’”

Although he had no idea what lawyers did, specifically, Lipsey learned during the Model Legislature experience, that he liked the sounds of the job.

“I knew that they talked a lot, and I liked to talk a lot, so I decided to be a lawyer,” he said. “After three years at Georgetown I was not a lawyer yet, but I was eligible to be a lawyer. I had to take the Bar exam, two days of tests first.”

Lipsey joined the military before returning to be a lawyer and was a trial lawyer for 33 years.

“A trial lawyer goes into court and represents people in court,” he said. “They can be criminal cases, accidents, family cases, juvenile or DCYF. The lawyer argues before a judge and sometimes before a jury. Sometimes, if cases feel they have a good, fair judge, they will take a chance with one judge versus 12 individuals on a jury.”

Lipsey explained to the students how one becomes a judge.

“You have to apply for a judgeship. You have to go before different committees, talk about your background, what your education is, why you want to be a judge, and why you think you’d make a good judge,” he said. “Your name is sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee and then to the entire Senate.”

He explained that judges are appointed for life, or until one choose to retire or dies while still in the position. He told the students that although he had officially retired from his position, he had been asked to come back, had returned and has been there ever since.

He also explained that those who are arrested have rights, and being arrested does not take away those rights.

“Under the Constitution, there are Miranda Rights and those mean that you don’t have to say anything at all, but if you do, what you say can be held against you, you have the right to a lawyer, and if you can’t afford one, one will be provided for you, free of charge. Under the RI and US laws and the Constitution, everyone is entitled to a lawyer,” he said.

He also explained to the students what it means to be presumed innocent until proven guilty and where the burden of proof lies.

“You are presumed innocent until proven guilty, and the state and federal governments have to prove what they’ve accused you of, after a trial,” he said. “The state has to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. For simple trials you need a fair preponderance of evidence. You never want someone going to jail for a crime they didn’t commit. Someone’s liberty is at stake because they can go to jail. All of these same things apply to a juvenile case just as they do for an adult case.”

When asked whether or not there were times when the cases were such that Lipsey did not want to continue on as a judge, he acknowledged that the job can be difficult.

“There were some times, there were some tough cases. I think that every one of us has a feeling sometimes and they question, ‘Should I do this? Am I letting myself down by quitting,’” he said. “You have to make that decision. A couple of times I felt that way, but I felt that it would pass. I stuck to it and I love the job.”

Judge Lipsey was also asked whether or not he ever had to defend someone he felt was guilty, and his answer was simple.

“Yes, but your job as a defense lawyer is not to make a decision as to whether or not they are guilty, your job is to defend your client,” he said. “It’s up to the prosecutor to show that the defendant is guilty and up to a judge or a jury to make that decision. A defense lawyer has to present honestly, to the best of their ability, the evidence that their client didn’t do it.”

The question of salary for lawyers and judges was raised by a student, and Lipsey answered honestly, giving an answer that seemed to surprise some in the room.

“Some lawyers get very good money,” he said. “Public defenders make a choice to get a job where the state pays their salary and they will not get as much money as a private lawyer who can charge by the number of clients they have. A public defender makes the same money no matter how many clients he has. When I was a lawyer, I made good money and I had no idea that to be a judge would mean such a drop in my income, but I felt that by becoming a judge, I could help more people than I could as a lawyer.”

Judge Lipsey credited his parents as being much of his inspiration in life.

“My father was a carpenter, he was a very hard worker,” he said, noting that he, in turn, also had a very strong work ethic. “My mother was extremely smart, she was absolutely brilliant. Her mother died when she was in high school, and she had to go out and work in order to help support her younger brother and younger sister. In her high school yearbook it said that she was destined to go to law school, but she never got to go. That’s why when I was sworn in as a judge, even though my father had already passed away by that time, I was so proud that she was there.”

As he wrapped up his presentation, Judge Lipsey reminded the students that no matter what path they choose, what job they do, to remember to love what they do and to strive to help others no matter what their profession.

“Even if you’re working at Best Buy, you should want to help people every day,” he said. “Listen to your teachers, and remember that even sports figures don’t start out in the major leagues. They start out playing on the playground and they work hard. Any job you do, you work hard. You may not like your classes, you may not like taking tests, but you’ve got to do it.”

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here