re: 19th JDC Judge Mike Erwin Retiring

FWIW, this has been the plan for a while. He was my judge for some things I got into when I was younger. He is stern, but fair. My 5 years probation would have ended January 2019, but since I was doing well and had Rodney Messina as my lawyer, they ended it mid-2018, which coincides with my move to SD. When I went to my last court date, they had already transferred my case load to another judge.

As I said, he was very stern, but very fair. A few times I had court on the same day that people would have to take drug test. He would straight up tell them "tell me if you're going to fail, you'll probably only get a weekend, but if you don't say anything and act like you'll pass, but fail, you're going in for 90 days." I can't tell you how many idiots I saw lie to his face and he kept his word, giving them 90 days. Just as he did if they were truthful. Some people with kids, he didn't even give any time, if it was their first fail.

I give him some credit for getting my life back on track. A few times when I got transferred down from Catahoula to go to court, I saw how he was and thought to myself, I can't frick up in this guy's courtroom because he doesn't mess around.

I hope he lives a fulfilling life in retirement. I know he's not reading this, but I still would like to thank him for being fair but also no nonsense. His ways probably saved my life.

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I haven’t been since that happened and won’t ever go again.

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Place is disgusting. They’ve apparently changed food vendors recently and everything on the menu is a disaster