Memoirs of a Judge
By Judge Taylor
It has been five years since my most difficult case, and I wasn't sure if I should have included it in my life story. Five years ago I had a case where a member of the African-American community was accused of raping a caucasian female. The lawyer defending Tom Robinson, the african-american man, was Atticus Finch. He was appointed the case and did a wonderful job on it. Although he lost the case, he still fought till the end and should have won. It still troubles me that our racist community had chosen to place the blame on Tom instead of the girls father.
It was obvious that Tom was incapable of raping her with his caring emotions towards her. He cared for her because he felt sorry for her. The case is a little bit foggy since I am older now, but the results will last forever. The thing I can remember the most was this: "'She reached up an' kissed me 'side of th' face. She says she never kissed a grown man before an' she might as well kiss a nigger. She says what her papa do to her don't count. She says, 'Kiss me back niggger.'"(194 Lee) When Tom had finished saying this, the crowd was shocked. I remember looking at Mr. Ewell's face seeing the guilt, but nobody else saw it. The jury looked as if they wanted to grant Tom as innocent, but they couldn't turn against their own kind. To this day, I still believe it...Tom was innocent.
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