{"id":259039,"date":"2025-05-27T03:10:56","date_gmt":"2025-05-27T03:10:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/alabama\/angels-live-amongst-us-in-jefferson-county\/"},"modified":"2025-05-27T03:10:56","modified_gmt":"2025-05-27T03:10:56","slug":"angels-live-amongst-us-in-jefferson-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=259039","title":{"rendered":"Angels live amongst us in Jefferson County"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n<\/p>\n

\n
\"Judge<\/a>
Retired Judge Jim Hughey III<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Today\u2019s guest columnist is Judge Jim Hughey III.<\/em><\/p>\n

Billboard of hope<\/strong><\/p>\n

Juror number six wore sleeveless shirts to Court each day.<\/p>\n

On her shoulder was a large, life-like tattoo of a young man\u2019s face.<\/p>\n

After the trial was over, I asked whose face was on her arm. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s my son who took his own life,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis image is my ministry in his honor.<\/p>\n

\u201cWherever I go it opens doors for me to talk with people about the dangers of depression and guide them to help, if needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having myself experienced the loss of a loved one to depression, I was stunned by the strength and grace with which this unsung member of our community had channeled her unimaginable grief into elegant action; turning her body into a billboard of hope.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t waste a second chance<\/strong><\/p>\n

The defendant was a high-school-aged young man.<\/p>\n

Due to inattention, he had run his car into a parked vehicle whose owner was standing nearby.\u00a0 No one was physically hurt and the damaged car was ultimately paid for, but a money-damages claim for the bystander\u2019s emotional distress remained pending for trial.<\/p>\n

The Jury ruled in favor of the defendant.<\/p>\n

And then the Foreman asked if he could speak on behalf of the group. It was an unusual request, but I agreed.<\/p>\n

\u201cYoung man,\u201d he said to the defendant, \u201cwe gave you a second chance today. Don\u2019t waste it and don\u2019t ever, ever<\/em> drive your car without giving the road your full attention.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, sir,\u201d the young man said, with tears welling in his eyes, \u201cI promise.\u201d<\/p>\n

To this day I wonder if those tears were purely from relief or also in amazement that twelve strangers in his community cared enough to give him that message.<\/p>\n

Thoughtful & selfless act<\/strong><\/p>\n

The tragic traffic death occurred on I-459 one morning when a pickup truck crossed the center line and collided with a sedan.<\/p>\n

The decedent in the sedan was on her way to work.<\/p>\n

Left behind were a husband and a young son.<\/p>\n

The man and boy were in my Courtroom for approval of a settlement that would distribute several sizeable life insurance policies their wife\/mother had taken out on herself. Her thoughtful and selfless act had reached out and embraced her loved ones with financial stability after she was gone.<\/p>\n

When I arrived home that night and saw my own wife standing safe in our kitchen, I suddenly found myself in tears and hugging her tight.\u00a0 \u201cWhat happened to you?\u201d she asked.\u00a0 \u00a0When I caught my breath, I answered, \u201cI was brushed by the wings of an angel today and didn\u2019t see it coming.\u201d<\/p>\n

I had a window into lives of amazing citizens<\/strong><\/p>\n

I loved many things about my time on the Bench but, as you can see from the encounters above, what I loved most was the privileged window my position gave me into the lives of my amazing fellow citizens.<\/p>\n

As a sitting judge I handed cases covering every conceivable human failure and problem.<\/p>\n

Abundant examples of pride, greed, dishonesty, envy, wrath, and sloth came through my Court.<\/p>\n

But so did countless instances of humility, charity, truth, kindness, forgiveness, and selfless hard work.<\/p>\n

I saw people at their worst, but also at their best.<\/p>\n

After handling thousands of cases over my twelve years of service, I became firmly convinced that all personality traits (the good ones, the bad ones, and the ugly ones) are evenly distributed among the many branches of the human family tree.<\/p>\n

My favorite task as a judge was overseeing jury trials.<\/p>\n

It always floored me to watch twelve random citizens slowly gel into a cohesive group working diligently and honestly to solve an important dispute.<\/p>\n

My amazement at the process was compounded by the fact that Jefferson County is one of the most diverse communities in the nation.<\/p>\n

Our Jurors arrived at the Courthouse with differing perspectives and views on almost every aspect of life, but when sworn into service, presented with all of the available facts on a situation, and given an unlimited amount of time to sift through those facts and discuss them, they invariably made good decisions.<\/p>\n

In \u201creal life,\u201d of course, we rarely have all of the available facts on any situation and we never have unlimited time to sift through them.\u00a0\u00a0 And, sadly, few of us would care to have any kind of discussions these days with those whose views differ from our own.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t have to be that way.\u00a0 In our jury rooms it still isn\u2019t<\/em> that way.<\/p>\n

A sincere hope<\/strong><\/p>\n

Which is why I so sincerely hope that the open-minded and open-hearted spirit I saw animate juries can spread out of the Courthouse and into everyday life, giving all of us the strength and courage we need to speak to each other, hear each other, and see each other as we walk together on the path of life.<\/p>\n

I can promise you from my own experience; if you take to the time to look, it won\u2019t take long to find your own examples of flesh and blood angels living among us, and walking beside us, here in Jefferson County.<\/p>\n

Jim Hughey III is a retired Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge.\u00a0 He now helps parties resolve their disputes out of court at SchreiberADR.<\/em><\/p>\n

David Sher is the founder and publisher of\u00a0ComebackTown<\/strong><\/a><\/span>.\u00a0\u00a0He\u2019s past Chairman of the Birmingham Regional Chamber of Commerce (BBA), Operation New Birmingham (REV Birmingham), and the City Action Partnership (CAP).<\/em><\/p>\n

Click here to sign up for our newsletter.<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Invite David to speak for free to your group about how we can have a more prosperous metro Birmingham. dsher@comebacktown.com<\/p>\n

(Visited 374 times, 374 visits today)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Retired Judge Jim Hughey III Today\u2019s guest columnist is Judge Jim Hughey III. Billboard of hope Juror number six wore sleeveless shirts to Court each day. On her shoulder was a large, life-like tattoo of a young man\u2019s face. After the trial was over, I asked whose face was on her arm. \u201cIt\u2019s my son […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":259040,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11763],"tags":[2214,15275,9508,4903],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-259039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alabama","tag-angels","tag-county","tag-jefferson","tag-live"],"yoast_head":"\nAngels live amongst us in Jefferson County - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=259039\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Angels live amongst us in Jefferson County - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Retired Judge Jim Hughey III Today\u2019s guest columnist is Judge Jim Hughey III. Billboard of hope Juror number six wore sleeveless shirts to Court each day. On her shoulder was a large, life-like tattoo of a young man\u2019s face. After the trial was over, I asked whose face was on her arm. \u201cIt\u2019s my son […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=259039\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-27T03:10:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Jim-Hughey-1024x1005.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1005\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=259039#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=259039\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\"},\"headline\":\"Angels live amongst us in Jefferson County\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-27T03:10:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=259039\"},\"wordCount\":973,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=259039#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Jim-Hughey-1024x1005.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Angels\",\"County\",\"JEFFERSON\",\"live\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Alabama\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=259039#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=259039\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=259039\",\"name\":\"Angels live amongst us in Jefferson County - Som2ny Network\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=259039#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=259039#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Jim-Hughey-1024x1005.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-27T03:10:56+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=259039#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=259039\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=259039#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Jim-Hughey-1024x1005.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Jim-Hughey-1024x1005.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":1005},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=259039#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Angels live amongst us in Jefferson County\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"description\":\"Daily Deals\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Som2ny Network\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png\",\"width\":300,\"height\":86,\"caption\":\"Som2ny Network\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Angels live amongst us in Jefferson County - Som2ny Network","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=259039","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Angels live amongst us in Jefferson County - Som2ny Network","og_description":"Retired Judge Jim Hughey III Today\u2019s guest columnist is Judge Jim Hughey III. Billboard of hope Juror number six wore sleeveless shirts to Court each day. On her shoulder was a large, life-like tattoo of a young man\u2019s face. After the trial was over, I asked whose face was on her arm. \u201cIt\u2019s my son […]","og_url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=259039","og_site_name":"Som2ny Network","article_published_time":"2025-05-27T03:10:56+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":1005,"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Jim-Hughey-1024x1005.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=259039#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=259039"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371"},"headline":"Angels live amongst us in Jefferson County","datePublished":"2025-05-27T03:10:56+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=259039"},"wordCount":973,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=259039#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Jim-Hughey-1024x1005.jpg","keywords":["Angels","County","JEFFERSON","live"],"articleSection":["Alabama"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=259039#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=259039","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=259039","name":"Angels live amongst us in Jefferson County - Som2ny Network","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=259039#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=259039#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Jim-Hughey-1024x1005.jpg","datePublished":"2025-05-27T03:10:56+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=259039#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=259039"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=259039#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Jim-Hughey-1024x1005.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/Jim-Hughey-1024x1005.jpg","width":1024,"height":1005},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=259039#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?bp_activities=1"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Angels live amongst us in Jefferson County"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","name":"Som2ny Network","description":"Daily Deals","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#organization","name":"Som2ny Network","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4a0953c4-logo-300x86-1.png","width":300,"height":86,"caption":"Som2ny Network"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b85e3c3dc0e1daea076524dc8810c371","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/729ae85bf62b9917e93538db2f2688ca?s=96&r=g&default=https%3A%2F%2Ffivemor.com%2Fwp-content%2Fplugins%2Fbuddypress-first-letter-avatar%2Fimages%2Fdefault%2F96%2Flatin_a.png","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/fivemor.com"],"url":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=259039"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/259039\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/259040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=259039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=259039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=259039"},{"taxonomy":"dealstore","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fdealstore&post=259039"},{"taxonomy":"offerexpiration","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fofferexpiration&post=259039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}