by Mike Sharkey
Staff Writer
A year ago, Circuit Court Judge A.C. Soud hinted at retirement by the end of 2006. Last week, he made good on that hint when he handed Chief Judge Don Moran his letter of resignation effective June 30.
“It’s bitter-sweet,” said Soud, shortly before heading off to juvenile court where the first case he heard was that of five Paxon Middle School female students accused of assaulting another female student. “I love it here and I love the work. It’s challenging intellectually and emotionally.”
Soud ran for Circuit Judge in 1980 against John Sulik and Randy Fallin and won in the primary. On Jan. 6, 1981, Soud took the bench and has stayed for 26-and-a-half years.
“It’s been a ride that’s hard to describe,” said Soud, explaining that his first year involved two very interesting cases. “I had a major first-degree murder case my first year. A police officer was killed by a sniper. The sniper was in an apartment building and shot the officer while he was sitting at a stop sign in his cruiser.”
The other case involved Rosemary Furman, whom Soud described as an “obstinate, cantankerous woman who hated lawyers and the legal profession.”
According to Soud, Furman was giving legal advice to people without any kind of certification. Eventually, the Florida Supreme Court filed charges.
“They appointed me to be referee and I recommended jail time for contempt,” he said.
Soud may retire from full-time work at the end of June, but he’s not retiring completely from the bench. His plan is to enter the state’s senior judge program, something that will allow him to fill in for judges locally as well as all over the state. Soud said he’d fill in where the caseload is heavy and for judges that for some reason or another wouldn’t be able to work.
However, for someone who handled what were estimated to be 500-750 cases a year for over 26 years, Soud has no intention of making a full-time job out of being a senior judge. Plus, he has a handful of other things planned. He has a grandson due to be born this summer in Shreveport. La. and he’s always given thought to writing a truth-based novel on the behind-the-scenes aspect of the courthouse and courtroom.
“The book would be titled ‘All Rise: The Brotherhood of the Robe.’ I may still try to play with that,” said Soud. “It would not be about the daily grind. It would be a reflective novel about true things that occurred here and around the state. It would look at the court system, the personalities, the arguments.”
Soud, who is a deeply faithful person, has something else in mind for his post-professional life.
“I would like to get myself involved in some sort of lay ministry working with people or in the field,” said Soud, who would consider something local or even abroad.
One thing that likely won’t happen is a return to the private sector as an attorney. His two sons — Jeff and John — have a law firm in the Blackstone Building.
“Jeff told me, ‘Dad, you will have to submit an application and we’ll review it,’” he said.
Over his nearly 30 years, Soud has seen and presided over just about every type of case. He says the Courthouse — and often the courtroom — are a microcosm of society, a society he says has truly deteriorated the past 25 years. Much of his time has been spent in family law, a division that seems to have affected him the most.
“What gets to me is the number of kids I see being born and raised without the benefit of both parents available,” said Soud, who helped organize the Fourth Judicial Circuit’s Family Law Division. “Even if they are divorced, you can still be available to the child. It’s irritating that these parents want nothing to do with their children. The worst scenario is to see the forfeiture of a child to the Department of Children and Families. Those kids don’t deserve that.”