RETIRING — Judge James Clayton in his chambers March 25. Clayton, who is retiring this year after more than 21 years as a judge in Volusia County, was in the midst of cleaning his desk when Beacon reporter Al Everson caught him for a chat.
Spring is a time of new beginnings, and Volusia County Circuit Judge James R. Clayton is beginning a new phase of his life. Clayton is closing out his legal career, retiring from a career that has enabled him to see the law and its effects upon people of all walks of life and from the varied perspectives of advocate, prosecutor, defender of the oppressed, and arbiter of the many and varied disputes between people.
Clayton is one of those whose local roots are deep, and he has seen and experienced the law from different perspectives. A 1971 graduate of DeLand High School, Clayton entered his undergraduate studies at Brevard College in Brevard, North Carolina, then a two-year college affiliated with the United Methodist Church. He received an Associate of Arts degree in 1973, before transferring to Stetson University in DeLand later that year. Clayton graduated from Stetson in 1975 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in business administration in 1975.
He continued his education later that year when he enrolled in Stetson University’s School of Law in St. Petersburg. After receiving his law degree in 1978, Clayton began his career in law as a prosecutor with the State Attorney’s Office, working under then-State Attorney Stephen Boyles. He left the State Attorney’s Office in 1984 and entered the private practice of law.
Before Clayton ran for election as a circuit judge in 2002, he and Michael Teal, another attorney, maintained a law office in Downtown DeLand.
Clayton’s wife, Pamela, is undergoing treatment for cancer, but he says the two, along with their four grown children, are hopeful she will defeat the dreaded disease. Judge Clayton said the two are planning an active post-retirement life, beginning with a trip to the West.
Although he is leaving the Circuit Court bench, Clayton will take on the status of senior judge. That means he may be subject to recall to try cases in the event of crowded dockets, and if he consents to come out of retirement temporarily to ease any backlog in the courts.
As he prepared to move out of his chambers and hang up his black robe for the last time — subject to recall to active judicial duty, if necessary — Judge Clayton talked with The Beacon about his career, his fondest memories and how the judicial system may be reformed.
Q: How long have you been a circuit judge?
A: “Twenty-one years and three months. I am the longest-serving circuit judge in the 7th Judicial Circuit. I ran for election in 2002.
“I was in my 24th year as a lawyer when I became a judge. [In private practice,] I did mostly criminal defense and family law.
Q: As you prepare to leave the judgeship, what was the high point or most memorable time or event of your tenure?
A: “High point — I think it was in Dependency and seeing children reunited with their parents. Parents sometimes have substance-abuse and mental issues and they get their children back. That’s the most rewarding.
“Adoptions. That’s always a fun occasion, and reuniting children with their families. Those are more important than murder cases.”
Q: What was the least rewarding or most trying time?
A: “Terminating a parent’s rights to their children because of abandonment, abuse or neglect. Sometimes parents are so bad and so cruel that the government has to terminate their rights to protect them.
“I had a 6-month-old baby with 11 broken bones. I put both Mom and Dad in prison for the maximum, 15 years.
“That’s why I’m getting out. I’m tired of seeing man’s inhumanity to man.”
Q: If you could remake or change the judicial system, what change or changes would you implement?
A: “Have one trial level, because the county judges are just as smart as the circuit judges, and they both have to have five years’ experience as a lawyer [before being appointed or elected to be a judge].
“If you had one trial level, you can do everything, and leave the appellate courts alone.
“Even though I was elected, the appointment process vets the applicants. You have a judicial nominating commission in each circuit. The governor appoints three of the nine, two of whom must be lawyers and one a lay person. The Florida Bar then appoints three of them, two lawyers and a lay person. The governor has the final say on all. There are 20 separate nominating commissions.”
Q: Do we need more judges in the 7th Judicial Circuit?
A: “No. We do not need more judges.
“We do need a courthouse in Daytona Beach. City Island is not safe.”
Q: It seems the pandemic was perhaps the most trying time for the judicial system since the Civil War. What permanent changes, if any, resulted from the pandemic?
A: “Zoom became the norm. It is more common. The lawyers still appear before me in probate.”
“When you’re in front of a jury, it [Zoom] doesn’t work.
“It [the pandemic] made people lazy. With a jury, you need to be there in person. In the case of Zoom, you can do pretrial matters and case management.”
Q: During the pandemic, there was a backlog in the courts. Is that still a problem?
A: “We’re back up to speed.”
Q: What does the future hold for Judge Clayton?
A: “I’m going to take some time off. We [including his wife, Pam] have got an Airstream Travel Trailer, and we’re going to Utah.”
Q: Will Judge Clayton run for elective office again? At the local level or perhaps at the state or federal levels?
A: “Absolutely not!”
Q: What advice do you give to incoming judges?
A: “I have it in 10 things,” he said, handing a copy for The Beacon. “I give it to them [new judges].”
A few highlights are reproduced below:
“They need to remember we are not as important as we think we are.
“They need to remember this is a bench, not a throne.
“My daddy told me, ‘You’re not better than anyone else, and nobody else is better than you.’
“I do pray for the wisdom to use justice and compassion.
“People may laugh, but when you’re praying, you’re calm.’”
Although he was a good judge, he should never be recalled. He retired, leave him alone to his danger on the road pulling a trailer, and tending to his garden, he’s too old to be trusted to be rational in a courtroom, deciding the fate of peoples lives. Just let him be. Hopefully we won’t hear of his death or someone else’s death caused by him on the highway out west.
Man I love judge Clayton he has always been an inspiration and an amazing judge!!