by Sean McManus
Staff Writer
Hanging on John Skinner’s office wall is an advertisement from 1918 for Skinner land. It reads, “If you have made a failure in every line of business you have undertaken we advise you not to try farming because it’s a business and you will have to use business judgment in order to be successful.” The Skinner family, originally in turpentine, quickly got into cattle, horses, goats, potatoes, corn, sugar cane and chickens, in addition to real estate and dairy.
Seemingly unfazed but wary enough to have a day job, Skinner, in addition to being a Circuit Court judge, is a bit of a cowboy. And how could he not be? It’s in the Skinner blood. Currently, he and his family live on a farm complete with a woodshop where he makes his own furniture, and a leather shop where he makes his own shoes.
“When I really started getting into horses in the late 1980s, I wanted to make my own riding boots,” said Skinner, showing off his shoes. “It really just started from there.”
He started making tall boots, like the ones in old Westerns. Following the instructions out of “a book written by some guy in Texas,” Skinner made his boots wide, with a big instep. Then he branched out and started making shoes for work as well. He uses Tandy leather and gets the soles from a local business.
“When you make them yourself, they’re so comfortable,” he said. “It’s like wearing a slipper.” With the exception of sneakers, Skinner hasn’t purchased a pair of shoes in eight years.
As for the furniture, Skinner said that started when he was first building his house near Southside where the bulk of the Skinner family land is located.
“We were kind of low on cash,” he said. “But we had plenty of cypress.”
Skinner made the trim for his entire house. Since then, he’s built a desk for his daughter, an entertainment center, a computer table, an eight-foot dining room table, two Morris chairs (a style from the early 20th Century) and a matching couch. He has a friend who has a sawmill in Hilliard. Skinner made the frame that holds the picture of him on the horse. There’s also a pecan wood gavel on a side table in his office that he carved himself. The woodshop he uses is in his barn and the things he makes, his wife stains and finishes. The leather operation, on the other hand, requires air conditioning so it’s inside the house.
Skinner graduated from The Bolles School in 1970 and went to Florida State University for one year before transferring to Emory. He graduated from the University of Florida Law School in 1977.
“I didn’t really set the world on fire with my grades,” he said. “And I never really thought I’d be a judge.”
The next year he was a public defender working for Lou Frost. He handled cases in juvenile, county court and some felony.
“I couldn’t believe it, but I fell in love with trial advocacy,” said Skinner. “I really liked working with people and thinking on my feet. By the time I left that [public defender’s] office, I knew I wanted to be a judge.”
He stayed at the Public Defender’s Office for two years before taking on civil law with attorney George Thames. When Thames retired in 1984, he went on his own. Then, in 1986, a spot opened in County Court, where he spent almost 10 years before, in 1995, four seats opened in Circuit Court. where he spent two years in family, two in delinquency and two in dependency — the seat of his passion.
When Skinner was a public defender, he was frequently appointed as an advocate for parents in dependency cases, as well as a lawyer who represents children in guardianship cases. In other words, he cares a lot about children’s issues.
“It’s important because it’s not the most popular,” said Skinner, who volunteers to sit on dependency court. “It’s a job that requires that you deal with matters of neglect and parents with mental health issues. Just today [about two weeks ago] we had a father who was performing lascivious acts in front of his kids. There’s lots of domestic violence.”
Skinner said there are often dilemmas about what’s best for the child.
“On one hand, staying with the parents provides some stability,” he said. “But you never know whether it’s going to get better or worse.”
Skinner said the legislature recently passed a “12-month law” so parents have time to resolve their issues. But if they don’t, they lose their children.
“The catchword used to be ‘reunification,’” said Skinner. “Now it’s ‘time’s up.’“
Skinner is as active in community children’s advocacy as an unpartisan judge can be. He supports the Boy’s Home and is involved with the Child Guidance Center. April is child abuse month and includes the First Coast Family Center Child Abuse Prevention luncheon, which is one of Skinner’s endeavors.
Skinner said that his years in private practice made him sympathetic to the time restraints of attorneys. “I try to always be punctual,” he said. “And considerate of their time.”
Skinner’s son, Jack, is a student at the University of North Florida. His daughter, Kelly, is a sophomore at St. Johns Country Day. His met his wife, Janet, when he was an intern in Washington during law school.
He said the Skinner family (about 140 people) has a big reunion every Thanksgiving at one of the cousin’s farmhouses on a lake in Jacksonville.
“We never have turkey,” he said laughing.
In 1995, Skinner went on the Great Florida Cattle Drive from Yeehaw Junction to Kissimmee, about 65 miles. Gov. Lawton Chiles was there for a picture. And Skinner made the frame.