Sep 1, 2026 · 1 min · 1 segments
Georgia Court of Appeals Judge Ken Hodges traces part of his interest in the law back to childhood summers in Albany, where he watched his father practice in municipal court. In this clip, Judge…
Subscribing going to watch your dad in court sounds a little bit like the real version of To Kill a Mockingbird.
Well, it was, and he had seersucker suits as well.
It was small town, Albany, and it was also small court being municipal court.
And so there were really matters of, you know, not great importance, but great importance to the people that were there.
And I would sit in the jury box because there wasn't a jury in municipal court, and I would watch my dad.
And then the two of them, along with the judge... would walk across the street to the coffee shop afterwards and sit around and drink coffee together, all three of them and me.
And they would rotate paying for the coffee.
But I would order a milkshake, which made them mad because that cost more than the coffee.
And I would sit there and listen to them tell war stories.
And it was just fascinating.
And what a great way to spend summers as a young middle school boy.
Subscribing going to watch your dad in court sounds a little bit like the real version of To Kill a Mockingbird.
Well, it was, and he had seersucker suits as well.
It was small town, Albany, and it was also small court being municipal court.
And so there were really matters of, you know, not great importance, but great importance to the people that were there.
And I would sit in the jury box because there wasn't a jury in municipal court, and I would watch my dad.
And then the two of them, along with the judge... would walk across the street to the coffee shop afterwards and sit around and drink coffee together, all three of them and me.
And they would rotate paying for the coffee.
But I would order a milkshake, which made them mad because that cost more than the coffee.
And I would sit there and listen to them tell war stories.
And it was just fascinating.
And what a great way to spend summers as a young middle school boy.
