Judge of the Day: Carlton Vines
Judge Carlton Vines presides over traffic violations and DUIs in Chattooga County, Georgia. It's a tiny county with a population of just over 25,000. The local newspaper, The Summerville News, has an ongoing investigative series examining the county's drunk-driving phenomenon and growing number of DUI arrests.
Unfortunately, Judge Vines has become a part of the phenomenon. He was arrested in November of last year for driving drunk and leaving the scene of an accident after swerving into another car. The coppers just released the dash-cam video from the arrest. The man was trashed, slurring, and stumbling... though still cogent enough to refuse the breathalyzer.
From WBS TV:
Vines pleaded guilty to DUI charges in April. He has since spent three nights in jail, paid fines, done community service and was on house arrest.On the tape, Vines can be heard admitting he has had "over the limit." At one point on the tape, an officer asks, "Do you remember the wreck you were involved in?" Vines can be heard responding, "I'm not going to admit or deny it but I will take responsibility."
A nolo plea -- or just good drunken logic? Vines is under voluntary suspension, and the Georgia State Judicial Commission gets to decide whether he returns to the bench.
Judge Vines makes some bizarre comment about sharecropping at the end of the YouTube video. Can someone from rural Georgia please explain?
Caught On Tape: Georgia Judge Arrested For DUI [WSB TV]
Drunk Judge Arrested [YouTube.com]
(9) Comments
I think the Judge was just referring to the fact that sometimes you sleep overnight in the field or in a barn when work someone else's land, so he's used to sleeping in uncomfortable places.
sharecropping is a southern eupheism for sodomy. I think the judge was offering services as a quid pro quo for preferential treatment.
Sharecroppers are notorious for being the poorest of poor farmers. They own no land and typically reside in the worst possible living conditions on the land that they work.
A jail bed probably looked like the Hilton to him in his drunken state.
DUI is such a victimless crime. Oh wait....
"sharecropping is a southern eupheism for sodomy. I think the judge was offering services as a quid pro quo for preferential treatment."
I think this is the code speak that Larry Craig used in the men's bathroom at the airport. He reached under the stall with his wide stance and stated, "I'm a sharecropper." I believe a sharecropper means you're a top. A ranch hand means you're a bottom.
That sharecropping comment is classic.
He was being a smart ass - saying his family was the poorest of poor but he's really an educated man - an attorney, a judge.
More clearly - he is saying very sarcastically, Could I just spend the night here in jail, I don't have anywhere else I'd rather be.
I think stereotypes about the intelligence and social habits of Southerners are false.
I'm pretty sure none of the comments are from former or current residents of South Georgia. As anyone really from there knows, the explanation of the sharecropping comment is simple: the judge got shit-face drunk and went driving. He was arrested, and still being shit-face drunk, began talking nonsense.