Editorial
Front Page - Friday, January 29, 2010
Judge gives back to community that gave so much
Stephanie Coward
Scholarships are often determining factors in college decisions. Without the funds, many individuals turn away from higher education to work. Such was almost the case for Judge Robert Moon. He was once ready to hop a train to an unknown destination, leaving his dreams of becoming a lawyer – which he had carried with him since junior high – at the station.
His departure was prevented by then Executive Director of the Boys Club, Ron Osborne. Osborne encouraged Moon’s dreams and apparently saw success in him. Because of this, Moon was named one of two men to receive the 1968 Boys Club scholarship, the first of its kind for the location.
“There is no such thing as a self-made person,” Moon said.
Moon attributes his success to the Boys Club and its gracious donors who contributed the funds for the scholarship that would provide him with not just a college education but also carry him on into law school. “I’m forever indebted to those people,” Moon said. Although the Boys Club never told him the names of everyone who contributed, he learned who some of them were after he’d made it to the bench.
“Growing up in East Lake, my family had very few of the things that money could buy, but we always had all of the things that money could not buy,” Moon said. “My parents always taught my brother and me by their good example; that was more than enough. My brother became a very successful engineer and I somehow passed the bar exam.”
After graduating from Memphis Law, Moon helped manage the successful campaign of State Sen. Bill Ortwein. Three years later it was on to the vice chairmanship of the Hamilton County Election Commission, where he stayed until receiving his first judgeship appointment for the town of Signal Mountain in 1983. Moon had been appointed to fill the vacant seat, which he had sat on as special judge off and on for a few years leading up to the appointment.
In 1996, when legislation was passed to add two new sessions court judges, he resigned his Signal Mountain judgeship, and was appointed to general sessions. He ran for his first full 8-year term in 1998 and then successfully ran again in 2006. Hamilton County Election Commission records show that Moon won 102 out of the 103 precincts. “I’m very humbled and grateful for the people’s confidence and continued support,” Moon said. “All elected officials serve at the will of the people, and it is a privilege to do so.”
He thoroughly enjoys the general sessions court judgeship and works hard to stay up-to-date with new rulings and other changes in the law. “I believe
in keeping up with the law.
I think a judge has to keep
up with the law and study
constantly,” he said.
A dynamic staff is another important aspect to a judge’s arsenal. “I have some of the most loyal and competent administrative assistants and court officers of anyone that I know,” Moon said. “That has been a very wonderful part of the job.”
Ever grateful for the opportunities he has been presented with, Moon constantly strives to better the lives of those he comes into contact with. A favorite part of his job through the years has been the thanks he receives from the people whose lives he affects. “Very seldom do you read about someone up here who has turned their life around, but we have many success stories in general sessions court, they just rarely get published,” he said. Being able to make a difference in a person’s life is continuously one of the most rewarding aspects to him. “The biggest frustration with the job is to want so much more for some people than they often want for themselves.”
Frustration aside, Moon is constantly helping Chattanooga’s youth. “I’ve always been focused on the young people, and I’ve had the privilege of buying dozens of young people their school books and helping them with their
education,” Moon said. He and his wife of 33 years, Debbie, a nurse at Erlanger, never had children, but young people have remained a major part of Moon’s life and career. “I think probably the most rewarding part of the job is to do for young people what the Boys Club has done for me. No question, that’s the most rewarding part of this job.”
Praising so many people from throughout his life, Moon gives extra special credit to a teacher, Elizabeth Sorrells, who he had for several classes. He said Sorrells is the one person outside his parents that had the largest influence on his life. “The two most important people in America today are a soldier and a teacher,” Moon said. “These should be the real ‘American Idols’.” It was Sorrells who taught Moon how to write poetry among many other things. He said her love for students was apparent and she refused to let any of them fail – an epic feat at times.
An avid deep-sea fisherman, Moon also still writes poetry – when he has time. Though he doesn’t write or publish near as much as he used to, he always makes the time when asked to write in memoriam poems. Three of the most meaningful poems he’s written, are those he wrote for Mary Ellen Locher, Officer Donald Bond and Officer Julie Jacks, he said. There is another poem that is also near to Moon’s heart and carries with it a bit of notoriety.
Last year, he wrote a poem for the Bering Sea crab vessel, the Northwestern – the same ship featured on the Discovery Channel’s show, “Deadliest Catch.” “I’ve always had a relationship with the sea and off shore fishing. I do that even today,” Moon said. Also, while in college, Moore worked as a deckhand on deep-sea boats.
Northwestern Capt. Sig Hansen, deckhand Matt Bradley and the rest of the crew accepted the poem – “A Prayer for the Northwestern” – last spring, and it now hangs in the ship’s wheelhouse. “There is no question in my mind that Bering Sea crab fisherman are the toughest men since the Vikings. It’s a risk a minute on a crab boat,” Moon said. “It’s been a wonderful association with Capt. Sig Hansen and the men of the Northwestern. I’m very much looking forward to their show in April. I am so honored to have that poem in the wheelhouse on the Northwestern; I just hope they have very few needs to ever have to read it.”
Looking toward the future, Moon plans to continue down the path he has traveled so fortunately, for so long. “I do not know what the future holds for me, but I will tell you this: I have no ambition for higher office. At this point, I believe that I am where I am supposed to be professionally and doing what I am supposed to be doing in the sessions court,” Moon said. “As long as the people of Hamilton County are happy and satisfied with the justice that they see coming out of this court and want me to stay, then I intend on doing that.”
To read “A Prayer for the Northwestern” visit the Northwestern’s blog at, http:// www.fvnorthwestern.com/tag/
sig/.
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