Judges Discuss State of the Courts
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) – Three Hamilton County judges spoke about the state of our court system Wednesday morning.
It was at the monthly Friends of Hixson meeting at the Valleybrook Golf Course Clubhouse.
Judges Boyd Patterson, Mike Dumitru, and Amanda Dunn spoke and answered questions about our court system.
The judges said that there is an increasing backlog of cases, as Patterson and Dunn said they’re still working through cases from as distant as 2018.
Judge Patterson in particular said he is seeing a concerning trend of defendants getting younger, as he says nearly 40 percent of people who go through the juvenile court system end up offending as adults.
He said, “If we know this and we do, why don’t we start putting some resources to these kids who aren’t getting clothes, they’re not getting food, they’re not getting shelter, they’re having to figure out what they’re having to eat that night, they can’t learn in that fight or flight mentality.”
Judge Dunn also added that she is seeing a large rise in the amount of firearms and narcotics cases on her dockets.
Hamilton County Judges Boyd Patterson, Amanda Dunn, and Mike Dimitru all discuss the state of the court system at the monthly Friends of Hixson meeting.
