YOUR HONOR, MAY I APPROACH THE BENCH?

Judge Jane Bond Summit County Common Pleas Court Akron, OH

When is the last time you did something on the bench that made you feel good about yourself? When did you do something outside the usual routine because you believed it was right-or kind-or just?

Too often we go through the motions of our lives doing what needs to be done today. Usually it is with adequate competence, but rarely with passion or courage or righteousness. Most judges say they felt called to the judiciary to "make a difference." Has that call faded to silence?

You need to renew that commitment. To look inside and discover what may be preventing you from doing what you truly want to do as a judge and expressing the ideals that motivated you to seek the bench.

You need to step outside the usual and stretch the intellectual and emotional muscles that have become slightly atrophied.

You need to join other judges who are also seeking renewal. You need the Judicial Studies Center at the Thunderhead Ranch.

The Judicial Studies Center presents something unique for judges. It gives you the chance to join with supportive colleagues to look at yourself and find those barriers to being the kind of judge you want to be. To have the listening skills to hear beyond the words, to know what your strengths and weaknesses are when faced with a challenge and to have the confidence to do not only what the law requires, but what justice demands.

You will participate-not just sit and listen. Structured skill sessions and guided activities help you discover and analyze ways that you can improve the way you do your work and your relations with others in your personal and professional life. Plato's admonishment to "Know thyself" is a guiding principle in the class work.

Set in the splendor of the Wind River Valley in western Wyoming, the ranch is both a respite from the demands of our lives and an immersion in the dramatic beauty of the American West. You may awaken to the whinny of a horse outside your window or to the first light of a sunrise that fills a sky bigger than your imagination. You also get a gift of time for casting a line in a trout stream, hiking, or making a new friend who soon feels like an old friend.

The ranch is within an easy drive from Yellowstone National Park and the Grand Teton National Park. Regular flights to Jackson Hole make both the parks and the ranch accessible for both a vacation and a collegial experience.

Fill out an application, cross of your docket for a week or two and start a journey of renewal. I guarantee you'll be a better judge at trail's end.

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