l-TKECARSLKATKES
SAT., JANUARY 24, 18S1
JUDGE GALLOWAY
Wants to Be A Role
Model to
MmonUes
ffyRegmslS. Craig
. This week' marks the
first anniversary on the
bench for Durham's first
and Only black woman
judge.' L -J
V Karen BetHpa Galloway -was
sworn id ion January
18, 1980 as the first black
female district court judge
in North Carolina. She'
was appointed by Governor-
Jim' Hunt on
December 31, 1979. Miss
Galloway, 31, from
Raleigh, was picked for
the seat from a field ofisix
'candidates. Her position)
, was one of nine created
'across the state by the
General Assembly.
Ms. Galloway is also
one of three other women
on District Court benches
in he state. She is a 1971
graduate of East Carolina
Ugiversity, '" Greenville,
with a . degree . in
psychology,' and received
a Juris Doqtor degree in
1976 from Duke Universi
ty Law School in Durham.
The only lawyer in her
immediate family,4 Ms.
Galloway has one -sister
who works for a Raleigh
television station and ',
another who is. a Durham '
minister as. well ( as a
speech and hearing;
.therapist. Her mother;
teaches fir's, t grade ' in
Raleigh. .-J
Ms. Galloway's father,
vbo died in' 1976, wis a
mailman, head of 'his
union and, she said, her
best friend. Since hi par
ticipated in a lot 'of ad
ministrative hearings as a
union representative: Ms.
Galloway said tbeV 'often
discussed similarjtfoblems
involving their cjjjsu. Her
only regreat . is f that he
never got the opportunity
to go to college as.she did.
She granted the follow
ling interview eight.months
after her appointment in
her Durham office in the
County Judicial Building:
Q. What has been the
. happiest moment in your
personal life?
A. I guess my happiest
moment has been when I
was sworn In as judge.
There have been happier
moments, but lately it has
to be when I was sworn in
as judge, not an attorney.
Q. Of all the things a
woman can be, it seems
like such a singular thing
to be a judge. In your own
words, who or what
makes a good judge?
, A. I don't think it has
anything to do with sex.
However, I think that you
have to have a certain
amount of intelligence,
Jand a lot of patience, a
commitment to work hard
very hard to stay
abreast of recent deci
sions, case decisions, of
state and federal laws.
One has to be a mild
mannered person, even
tempered, somebody who
can listen to peoples' pro
blems, and most . impor-
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! Q. Do . yon consider
yourself a brave woman?
A. Yes, I guess so. I
don't sit around and say,
'girl, you're a brave
woman but I think that
like so many other
women, I am taking steps
in areas where we have not
ventured before. People
have made it easier for
me. In turn, I think that
I'm making it easier for
other women, but I guess
to a certain extent I would
say that I have to be a little
brave in order to tackle it.
Q. When yoa say
women, do you mean
black or white women or
just women in general?
A. Women m general,
because when I speak of
black women, that is 'a
separate and special
category. That would en
compass not only black
women, but black mei
and steps that are taken as
far as the race is concern
ed
Q. What do you think
about ERA? Who do you
think it was created by,
black or white? Who does
it benefit?
A. I'm in favor of ERA.
I think it would benefit
everybody, black or white,
male or female. I don't
know if I can say that it
was created by. black peo
ple. I think that white
females may have been the
impetus behind the crea
tion of ERA. I don't think
that's important. I think
what is important is who is .
it going to benefit and I
think it benefits
everybody.
Q. When you were a
private attorney, what did
you like best about it?.
A. What I liked most
was being in court, defen
ding clients, and trial
work. I liked the at
mosphere of having to
argue for your client, hav
ing to put on evidence to
prove your case, and hav
ing to detect ptplf ;iat
would sit and listen to the
evidence 'aijd' &aH-"the15
strategies and techniques
W ? '
j" .? , i
-
7
V '.. .
JUDGE GALLOWAY
that make up a good trial
lawyer. The . actual
preparation and the actual
practice of law in the court
room is what I like best.
Q. Speaking of prepara
tion, Judge Galloway, you
certainly got a lot of that
during the Joan Little
trial. (Joan Little was ac-
quitted of murdering a
Beaufort County jailer).
What personal growth did
you receive from defen
ding Ms. Little, and did it
help or hurt your career?
A. (Chuckles) I don't
know if you know
anything about how I
became involved in her
case, but I worked for the
; firm that I went into part
nership with after I finish
ed Law School. I clerked
for them and they used to
, Itease, jne and say that myv
- first cast would be a first
iSdegrM nwdejjy to get
my feet wet. The day that
.Joan Little turned herself
in was the day I received
my bar exam results back.
I had passed the bar! In
'essence, Littl's trial was
jmy first case. I learned
jvery quickly what it was to
be a trial lawyer, because I
had the responsibilities
and the pressures placed
upon me. The publicity
surrounding her case was
nationally known. There
were difficult times and
there were frustrating ,
i times, but in balance, I
1 gained a great deal of ex
perience that year, and
would not like to change
hhat situation. It wasn't
pleasant, but rewarding.
Q. Would you clarify
that? x
, A. Yes, I had to deal
'with a multitude of per
sonalities people that
.were working with ufron
her cas.eJW.e-Jhad,3sevens,
rwnrr siyies . anq jecnni-
ques and strategies. Some
worked on jury projects. I
am speaking ' of the
ideologies, because
everyone involved in her
case had their own per
sonal beliefs of what
Joan's case meant to
, them. So, her case helped
'. me to deal with a group of
personalities!:
Q. Do the credentials
that yoa hold now make
your decisions more dif
ficult? ' A. Let me clarify that in
'private practice you don't
have to worry about judg
ing anyone.. That's not
your job; Your job is
defending. It was not a
value judgement in what
was going on. Inasmuch
as you had to make deci
sion whether to represent
it client; you would un
consciously weigh both
, sides in order to try to
Erepare your case so you
ad to deal with both
I sides. As a judge, you do
' it more. Your position as i
judge is not to advocatCi
but as an impartial
tribunal. The difficulty U
that your role is complete
ily different. Instead of ad
jvocating one side or thl
other, you are there to
make the ultimate decision
as to which side is to win
or lose. Your whole line of
thinking changes at that
point. You have to bear in
mind that you, as a district
court judge in a criminal
'case, are judge and jury,
because we don't have
jury trials in criminal cases
in district court. As a
judge, you have to make a
quick decision.
' Q. In spite of the fact
that you were forced to
learn quickly In your In
volvement with the Joan
Little trial, did those fac
tors lead to yonr becoming
the district judge of
Durham?
A. I believe that my
work experience was con
sidered by the Governor in
his appointment: It prov
ed that I would be compe-.
tent as a judge. I think
that sure enough the ex
perience on Joan's case
tald the-fotftfdatidnyof.
what type of practice I
would have. It also helped
to build my reputation.
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Q. During your first
case as judge on January
21; 1580, what was your
state of naiad when yon
entered the court room?
A. I was afraid nobody
told me what to say. I was
informed that would be
given criminal court for
the first two weeks.. My
superiors felt that I would
be more comfortable,
since most of my practice
was done in' criminal
court. No one observed
me. I was really on my
own! No ground work was
laid for me. The First week
I 'was nervous, but I
became less apprehensive.
Q. How was your deci
sion nude to accept this
position?
A. The decision was
made prior to my
judgeship. I had been ap
proached in 1979 with the
offer to be judge, and I
refused it. Later that sum
mer (1979), I decided we
didn't have many black
Women judges of district
'courts throughout the
states. I told myself if the
gjCple would support
npia, I didn't mind runn
n for the position.
S -nJOdy had to. I'm
ac j" the first to point
cut 4 lack of black
representation. 1 felt con
fident that I could do the
job.
Q. Who helped you to(
nlake your decision?
I A. My family helped to
!make the final decision,
my sister and my mother.
I've read that you make
around $31,000 a year.
Did the pay have anything
to do with your decision to
take the Job?
A. The pay was better
than what I had been mak
ing in private practice, so
that was an advantage. I
didn't know how much
the pay was. To say that I
took the job for the pay
would be in error,
although I was pleasantly
surprised.
Q. What do you feel, as
a black female judge, you
can do for the Durham
County community?
ficeds a'lbfdWepresefc
tation from minorities,
blacks and women,
because if we want our
consitutiton to really
work, we need fair
representation of our
society making policy
making decisions, and in
terpreting the Constitu
tion and the different laws
of the state and federal
government. What is im
portant to me is not that I
am here, but that we,
should have more blacks,'
more women in these posi
tions. It's not that we
don't have competent
minorities, its just that no
minority has been in a
position to appoint
another minority..
Q. What was your
first Impression of your
political socialization?
A. I started thinking
about it my first year in
college. I worked with a
tutorial program in my
community. It was my
first time "dealing with
radicals or militants."
When I went to East .
Carolina, I was very active
in the Black Student
Movement. This is when I
formed the basis of my
political socialization. I
formed my own values of
politics. It has matured
over the years. I am very
flexible. My political
views are constantly
changing, not the basic
stuff. When I was at East
Carolina, I was very mili- .
tant and would probably
deal with the 'situation.
veryr violently, a very-,
unladylike manner. I ra
tionalize with the situation
now.
t Q. What year was this?
A. It was the summer of
1967. The purpose of .the
group was to try to im
prove the conditions ' of
the poor people in the
community. , iy ; f
Q. Are you a strong
believer of the Bible and
does it affect your Judicial
decisions?
, A. I was brought up in a
very religious home. I'm
not as religious as I guess 1
. should be. I am a student
of the Bible. But basic
Christian doctrine I know,
and it probably does af
fect many decisions that I
make. I have to be careful
of that because many
times when you say, 'the
Bible makes my decisions
for me', you run into a
situation where your own
moral judgements come
into play. I don't think
you should force your
moral judgements upon
people. I don't think it's
fair. Your moral
judgements could be in
correct. In making my
judgements, I try not to
place my moral
judgements upon people,
(although they may have
some effect. For example:
People living together, in
a custody situation, if I
disagree which per
sonally I do with people
living together without the
benefit of marriage. I may
have a hard and fast rule
whenever that happens,
that a particular parent
should have the children.
.That'i not fair. It
'depends. . ,
Q. Pve rc9 that you've
described ywt father as a
"frustrated lawyer".
Would you define your
statement?
A. My father was very
bright. He did not have
the educational oppor
tunities that you and I
have, as you find in so
many cases. He was well
read and very active in. the ,
community, , . in. .. . civic.';
groups and church, " as
well. If he had had the op-
portunity to go to Law
School, he would have.
He would have made a
dynamite lawyer! He was
also the president of a
union. In essence, he was
a lawyer. As president of
the postal union, he had a
lot of negotiating to do; he
had a lot of people to de
fend within the union.
Because of the limited op
portunities during his time
for blacks, it was not easy
to obtain a lot of things,
: and he was frustrated. My
father could never do all
the things he wanted to
do.
Q. One could easily
have a model or someone
they admire in your field.
A lady by the name of
Elreta Alexander comes to
mind. She is noted for a
number of firsts, one of
which is the first black
female judge elected in the
United States.
. A. I have never had the
pleasure of meeting Judge
Alexander, but she
represents the people who
have paved the way for
me. The problems that she
ran into are probably
, much more tremendous .
than the one's I am facing
because she was appointed
during the sixties. She is a
person I admire and
respect. She would be a
model for me because she '
has held her position for
years. I hope we will serve
as models for minorities. ,
Dr. Franklin To Give
Mordecai Johnson Lecture
WASHINGTON, D.C. -r
Dr. John Hope Franklin,
noted historian and
author, will deliver the
Fourth Annual Mordecai
Wyatt Johnson Lecture,
January 23 at 7 p.m., in
the ballroom of the Ar
mour -. J. Blackburn
University Center.
Dr. Franklin is presi
dent of , the American
Historical Association and
is the John Matthews
Manly Distinguished Ser
vice Professor of History
at the University of
Chicago, br 1976, he was
selected by the National
Endowment for the
Humanities to be the fifth
Jefferson Lecturer in the
Humanities. He was ap
pointed by President Ford
in same year to the Na
tional Council on the
Humanities and in 1979
was , appointed by Presi
dent Carter to the Ad
visory Commission of the
International Com
munications Agency.
A graduate of Fisk and
Harvard Universities, Dr.
Franklin is a foundation
member of the , Fisk
University chapter of the
Society of Phi Beta Kappa
and is currently a member
of the Senate of Phi Beta
Kappa, He has lectured at
many universities in, this
country and abroad, serv
ing ,as profeuor at the
Salzburg Seminar in
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