One in a series on local judges.
by Glenn Tschimpke
Staff Writer
Dear Judge Tanner,
I appeared before you on a charge of petty theft and possession of drug paraphernalia. In the police report, there was a statement I made that I have a severe crack cocaine addiction and would like to be sent to treatment. You gave me nine months. As of this letter, I have been part of this program for 13 days and clean and not using crack for close to one month. I’m just writing to tell you thank you for this opportunity and to tell you I’m going to be a success story. I hope one day I’ll have the opportunity to thank you personally.
Sincerely,
A grateful recovering addict
Duval County Court Judge Sharon Tanner read the words scrawled in pencil on notebook paper. The letter was written by one of countless defendants that cycle before her in court. In a profession where every decision is likely to disappoint at least half the parties involved, the occasional thank you note is refreshing.
“That’s what keeps you going,” said Tanner. “I get some ugly letters from people who are upset because they’re in jail. Every once in a while, I get a letter like that and it will keep me going for another six months or so.”
Tanner is entering her 18th year on the bench where she wrestles with small claims disputes, traffic violations and other problems that come before a County Court judge. Her adventures in law didn’t come to her automatically, but rather through the influence of family and the stark reality that many professions simply don’t pay very well.
“I got a degree in journalism,” she said referring to her studies at the University of Florida. “I worked as an intern at the Times-Union the summer I turned 21. They had me doing rewrites on obituaries and things like that — very interesting work.”
When journalism didn’t look promising, Tanner went back to college for a business and marketing degree. After a few years in a business that yielded fair results, John Paul Howard stepped in — dear old dad.
“The reason I’m a judge is because of my father and my family,” she said. “He encouraged me to go to law school because I like to argue and talk and fight and carry on. I didn’t think I ever wanted to go to law school. But I got out of college and worked for two years and saw that I wasn’t making any money doing whatever I was doing.”
Juris doctorate in 1978. County Court judge in 1984. With six years legal experience at her father’s firm, the next tier of Tanner’s professional career beckoned.
“In 1984, there were two openings on the county bench. My father said, ‘Why don’t you run for judge?’” remembered Tanner.
Run for judge? She was 32, a fairly inexperienced lawyer as far as judicial candidates go and had no political inclinations or experience.
“That seemed a little overwhelming at the time,” she said. “It just happened that I went to a meeting that night or within a few days. They had a motivational speaker who came. The thrust of her speech was that women are reluctant to try things because they are afraid of failure. I started thinking about it. Why was the reason I didn’t want to run? Because I was afraid I was going to lose.”
With the help of friends and family, she assembled a $40,000 campaign for county judge. At the time, there was only one female judge on the county bench. Women were starting to gain prominence in the work force, especially in law. She seized the opportunity, ran a few television and radio ads and wound up defeating Anthony Zebouni in a runoff election.
“It was funny because I got over 100,000 votes. The only local person who got more votes than me was Ed Austin (who won the mayoral race.) I went to the Georgia-Florida game that year — it was a few weeks after elections. They announced there were 80,000 people in attendance for the game and I remember thinking, ‘I got more votes that all the people sitting in this Gator Bowl.’ I guess it resonated with female voters. I think women are more likely to want to vote for a woman if she’s qualified, especially back then. Women were sort of the underdogs.”
Through nearly two decades of County Court experiences, she has the requisite stockpile of amazing stories for a judge of her tenure.
Some of them involve innocent mistakes, like the man who was supposed to return to court on a given date at 9 a.m. at 330 E. Bay St. He showed up on the right day — at 3:30 p.m.
Some are hall-of-famers.
“I had a case in traffic court years ago. This guy was driving a school bus and somehow the school bus ended up in a ditch. He told this story about how the kids were trying to steal his cigarettes and he was fighting them off and how the bus ended up in the ditch. Everybody in the courtroom was hysterically laughing. I had tears running down my cheeks. It was the funniest story I ever heard in my life about the antics of this school bus driver.”
Every judge tries to keep a stoic demeanor, Tanner included, but the driver’s tale of navigating the bus while gallantly defending his cigarettes from middle schoolers was too much for her.
“With him, he was so funny and everybody in the courtroom was laughing so hard that I just had to let go. Of course, he lost his job.
“When you deal with people who are in trouble, you are going to hear everything,” she laughed. “My assistant, Lucy Aspinall, has over 30 years experience. She and I laugh just when we think we’ve heard the ultimate story, someone comes along with something better. We laugh about the excuses we get.”
Away from the courtroom, she’s a typical mother and wife to husband, Michael, and daughters, Haley and Rachel. Vacations usually have a rugged edge to them. The Tanners hire an outfitter that arranges active trips for them — from biking in the Canadian Rockies to whitewater rafting on the Colorado River.
“We always try to have an adventure,” she said. “We like to take vacations where you come back and you haven’t gained any weight.”
As for the future, Tanner says she’s happy where she is — no burning Circuit Court aspirations.
“I don’t do any family work at all,” she notes. “That’s the main reason I never sought a circuit judgeship. When I was practicing law, I did family work. It’s so difficult in terms of wrestling with the terrible responsibility of deciding child custody disputes and things like that. It’s heartbreaking. I don’t want to face it. I don’t want to do juvenile work. I like my adults that I deal with.”