With more than 30 years of experience, Judge Glenda Hatchett is well known for her popular show, “Judge Hatchett,” which began airing in 2000 and still can be seen today through syndication. In 2016, Hatchett has a few new items to speak of, including the premiere of her new show, “The Verdict with Judge Hatchett.”
The Indianapolis Recorder got a chance to speak with Hatchett to learn more about her new show and her take on youth crime today.
Indianapolis Recorder Newspaper: We hear your new show, “The Verdict with Judge Hatchett,” will air in 2016. What should viewers expect and how will this show differ from “Judge Hatchett”?
Hatchett: You can expect more of the same, because that’s what people want to see again — my concern for people and how I do it. It will be the same television court format as before, and I’m really excited about it. The show will air fall 2016.
Although “Judge Hatchett” was such a big hit, are there any lessons you’ve learned about the TV industry that you will be more aware of this time around?
Absolutely. One of the things I’m doing this time, although I was involved very much in the production of “Judge Hatchett,” I’ve negotiated to be an executive producer of this show. I have learned a lot, and if I would’ve known some of those things on the first show, I would have done the same. I am still very mindful of how powerful television is and how powerful media is.
Why did you decide to launch your law practice The Hatchett Firm? Did it have anything to do with your experience with “Judge Hatchett”?
After a lot of soul searching and prayer I decided I needed to be on this side of the bench, especially with everything happening around the country. From Trayvon Martin, to Jordan Davis and Eric Gardner … it just goes on and on. I found this is what I’m supposed to be doing at this point in my life. It’s great to be able to do cases you’re passionate about. God forbid we have another case like Trayvon Martin, but I want to be a part of the team of who they call. When people ask how am I going to do both, I’ve turned down other offers. A CEO I was speaking with asked, “If we can make the show work around your life, will you do it?” I will now fly to LA once a month and tape a lot of shows, and then fly home. I’m really excited about the firm.
Throughout your 30-plus years of experience, what have you found is missing from the juvenile justice system?
There needs to be a recommitment to rehabilitation. We have to figure out how to keep kids from coming back and if they come, how do we get them back on track, because that’s the real purpose of the juvenile court system; otherwise, they’d be lumped in with all of the adults. We have to look at it holistically and ask what’s going on in school, what’s going on with their family, and what is the deal. Ultimately the real challenge in this nation is to keep kids out of the juvenile court system in the first place. We have to get a generation of young people where we are giving them batting practice so they never strike out.
It seems as if those committing crimes are becoming younger. How can the community solve this issue?
One of the best investments we can make in this country is after-school programs. We know the highest percentage of juvenile crime is after school hours. It’s really when our kids are being recruited by gang and drug members. We can’t wait until a kid is 15 to ask what can we do; we have to start at the preschool level to support families and make sure parents are paying attention. The No. 1 predictor that a child will have a criminal record among boys is truancy. There is a correlation between school performance and juvenile crime. I still believe the juvenile court is the most important court in the nation, because it’s where you get to intervene and make that change.
You’re definitely a woman of many firsts. You were Delta Air Lines’ highest-ranking woman of color and Georgia’s first African-American chief presiding judge of a state court. Did you ever see any of this coming when you received your law degree?
(laugh) Oh my, no! I went to law school because I was thinking, “What am I going to do with this B.A. in history?” To be perfectly honest, it would be a wonderful story to say, “I knew when I was 5 I wanted to be a lawyer and a judge.” No, it didn’t happen that way at all (laughs). I went to law school because I didn’t know what was next, and I had no intention of practicing law. I went to law school because my dream job was to head a global foundation that had billions of dollars in assets and give rich folks’ money away to things I believed in. While I was in law school, I got bit by the litigation bug, and I got to work with the first Black federal judge in the deep South and that was huge. From there I went to Delta, because I knew I wanted to litigate and I was highest ranking woman of any color worldwide, and it begs the question, “why the hell would you leave there to go to the bench?” I would’ve never known it would turn out this way. It changed my life, but it is part of my purpose and passion.
You can often be found giving motivational speeches to women about not giving up and discovering their purpose. At what point did you find your purpose?
I had literally been on the bench for one week, and it was coming face-to-face with a little boy who was 8 years old who had been abandoned by his crack-addicted mother. I left the bench and got on my knees, face-to-face with him. I say all the time — that is where I found my purpose and passion.
