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 Cahill says he speaks for society in sternly dispensing justiceSunday, March 19, 2006
KELLI HEWETT TAYLOR News staff writerIn a matter of seconds, Jefferson County District Judge Robert Cahill can shift from drill sergeant to kindly grandpa - depending on the defendant. Cahill, who hears cases ranging from capital murder to animal hoarding, has been both praised and criticized for his stern, sometimes profanity-laced lectures to defendants. He is especially prone to reprimand those involved in drug-related crimes or family violence. "I am of the opinion that when I put on that robe, I'm not just telling a defendant my opinion, I'm speaking for every citizen in this county who pays taxes and wants to have a little peace and quiet," said Cahill, a former Jefferson County prosecutor and private-practice attorney. Cahill is a defendant himself in a class-action suit that says illegal immigrants with forged identification have faced higher instances of no-bond orders, as well as sentencing that required them to leave the state or the country. Cahill, 59, a conservative Republican, has served on the bench for 17 years. His courtroom decor includes a pair of photographs showing Alabama's now-defunct chain gang and a gun-toting warden. In front of his bench, a framed letter from an inmate is posted where defendants stand to address the judge. In pencil, the letter tells of the horrors of incarceration, with a frowny face drawn at the bottom. In his office, Cahill, who is Catholic, keeps a picture of Pope Benedict XVI. During the week, he leaves at noon to attend Mass. `A cop's judge': Cahill credits his three elected terms as judge to the support of law enforcement, earning him the reputation of being "a cop's judge." "I come from the school that I will do whatever it takes to get you not to come back - embarrassing you, standing on my head or confronting you," Cahill said. "Sometimes you have to be plain blunt with people." In November, for example, Cahill was hearing a pornography case against a mother who allowed a man to photograph her partially nude teenage daughter. "I don't know what type of human being you are," Cahill told her. "Animals don't treat their babies like that. I hope you never have a child again. You don't deserve to be a mother." Cahill has inspired plenty of stories outside the courtroom. "He is one of those larger-than-life characters; it's fun to watch him," said Allen Goodwine, a deputy district attorney who prosecutes cases in Cahill's court. Goodwine said Cahill is tough on crime and more likely to decline to set bond. But, Goodwine said, he's never seen justice slanted toward or against any group of people. "One of the speeches, or lectures, I hear him give is that, `I've got to do what I said I would do 17 years ago: Treat everyone the same,'" Goodwine said. The judge's flamboyance inspired the Judge Cahill character in the 2004 mystery novel "Sober Justice," written by former Birmingham attorney Joe Hilley. The fictional judge confronts a lawyer about his drinking problem but still offers the lawyer the case of a lifetime. "He has a real vivid personality that was perfect for books," said Hilley, of Fairhope. He also included Cahill in his follow-up legal thrillers, "Double Take" and "Electric Beach," due out on May. "He's a law-and-order kind of judge - which is the kind of judge I think you want to have in criminal cases. He's smart. He's sharp." Hilley said the class-action lawsuit's claim that Cahill discriminated against Hispanics doesn't fit the profile of the Cahill he knows. "I've never seen him do anything wrong," Hilley said. "I've never seen him treat anyone differently from anyone else." Sensitive to bias: Cahill was the first Catholic Republican elected in Jefferson County and is the grandson of Italian and Irish immigrants. He has his Italian grandfather's immigration papers from when his grandfather landed at Ellis Island in the late 1890s. Cahill said his own experiences make him sensitive to ethnic or cultural bias. He said that decades ago a cross was burned in front of his wife's family's house because neighbors thought her family was selling the home to a black person. "I know what it's like to be treated ugly because of perceptions of people," Cahill said. He said no-bond orders are often issued at the request of police officers. He said he had a strong working relationship with police and hasn't had reason to quiz them on details. As for his demeanor in court, Cahill said, "I am loud," he said. "My wife thinks I'm hard of hearing. That's just me. I was that way as a prosecutor." Cahill spent much of his youth as an only child in Homewood. He graduated from Auburn University with a major in economics and minors in political science and history. He earned his law degree from Cumberland School of Law and was a prosecutor in Anniston and Jefferson County before becoming a judge. Cahill, who lives in Hoover, has been married to his high school sweetheart, Josephine, for 38 years. They have three daughters and several grandchildren, whom he frequently mentions from the bench. "My faith and my wife are my life," Cahill said. Cahill said he knows his tough talk with some defendants is successful because every time he's at a restaurant, a store or a wedding reception, former defendants come up and thank him for what he's done. He says he's asked them if he should soften his tactics, and they consistently tell him no. Cahill says in the few minutes he interacts with them in court, he wants to make an impact. "I used to see some courtrooms when I was in practice where you felt like you were buying an insurance policy or closing on a house," Cahill said. "Society expects when that person stands before you for 2½ minutes that you will change their life." E-mail: ktaylor@bhamnews.com |
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