On Tuesday, April 18, L. Phillips Runyon III took off the black robe that he had worn for more than 27 years during his tenure as a judge in the 8th Circuit — District Division — court in Jaffrey for the very last time.
Runyon — who is still a practicing attorney at Runyon Law Office PPLC in Peterborough — was appointed a part-time judgeship in 1990 by then Gov. Judd Gregg, which was then confirmed by the executive council.
In those early days on the bench, Runyon said there was a learning curve.
“I showed up to my first day of work and they said, ‘I think there’s a robe in the closet, and here are the cases for today, good luck,’” said the oft-bow-tied Runyon.
And there was an adjustment period, switching between the role of being an attorney and then a judge.
“You have to balance things and look at both sides of the case, it’s more challenging than just looking at one side,” Runyon said. “And it takes awhile to figure that out.”
Jennifer Runyon, Phillips’ daughter-in law, said their family has long compared him to Atticus Finch, a fictional character in author Harper Lee’s 1960 novel “To Kill a Mockingbird,” who represented black defendants in a highly publicized criminal trial.
“He’s fair, honest, and trustworthy,” Jennifer said about her father-in-law.
L. Phillips Runyon IV, or “L.P.,” echoed those statements about his father during a retirement party at the Jaffrey court on Friday.
“It’s hard to have compassion as a judge, because you have to follow the law but he always felt sorry for people and their situation,” L.P said. “He was always as lenient as he could be.”
Throughout his time as a judge, Runyon kept notes as a way record the cases that came his way.
From those notes, he wrote a book called “Justice Approximated: Dispatches from the Bottom Rung of the Judicial Ladder,” which was published late last week.
The book begins with a case from a woman who showed up at court on an alleged theft charge wearing a gas mask, camouflage pants, combat boots, and a white sheet over her head and torso. She, nor her husband, would answer any questions during the hearing, and instead just stood there wheezing through her mask.
With little guidance on how he should proceed, Runyon told the woman he would table the case for six months, and do away with it completely if she kept a clean record for that period of time.
Runyon said it wasn’t exactly the most hard-hitting case, nothing like the decisions his contract-law professor at the University of Virginia Antonin Scalia, who later became a U.S. Supreme Court Justice, made during his career.
Although that’s not to say that the cases he saw weren’t important, or that there weren’t any big cases.
In fact, a case in 2005 drew national attention to the small court. The case came after a police officer made contact with Jorge Mora Ramírez, a 21 year old undocumented immigrant, who was pulled over in New Ipswich. The officer alerted federal authorities, although they refused to take action because no major crime was committed and the department has only scarce resources. The officer charged Ramírez with criminal trespassing.
“What [the officer] meant by that was criminal trespass in the United States,” Runyon said recalling the situation. “Because they were here without permission.”
It was up to him to rule whether or not a local police officer could charge undocumented people with a federal offense. Reporters from across the country came to sit in on the trial in the little court to hear the ruling, and it was up to Runyon to decide whether the prosecution could go forward or not.
He researched the law and mulled over the decision for about 10 days after the trial.
“I concluded that this was an area under federal jurisdiction and wasn’t something that a state court, or a state police officer could deal with, so I dismissed the charges” Runyon said.
He assumed the ruling would be appealed, but it wasn’t. The decision stood.
The vast majority of cases weren’t that big, more often he’d see ex-friends fighting over loans, or open-container charges.
For those types of cases, he said, he was told to make decisions quickly.
“My predecessor in the job, didn’t give me a lot of advice, but one thing that I have always remembered he said was, ‘if you’re going to be wrong, be wrong fast.’” Runyon said. “You don’t generally improve on the decision by waiting. Especially after you have done this for a long time, initial instincts are generally the most reliable.”
Over the years, he started picking up on small details or a story that doesn’t quite add up, which would tip him off about who was telling the truth and who wasn’t.
Being at the circuit level, Runyon said he tried to make the experience as approachable as possible because people going through the system probably didn’t have much experience there.
“If we can make that experience as little intimidating and stressful, go away thinking they have a fair shake, I think I did my job,” Runyon said.
A longtime runner — who has completed multiple marathons including in Boston and New York City — said he feels like he’s in good health both mentally and physically, and likely wouldn’t have retired from the judgeship if New Hampshire law allowed it. The law, which was enacted in 1792, doesn’t allow circuit judges to serve beyond their 70th birthday. Runyon turned 70 last week.
Runyon’s wife, Cathie, said he enjoyed splitting his time between the law office in Peterborough and judge duties in Jaffrey because it provided a break from the monotony of a full-time job.
And even though it could seem like he would have a lot more time now that he’s retired from his judgeship, Cathie said that likely won’t happen.
“He’ll just be spending that time at the office now,” she said, although she added that he does find time to slip away and travel to countries all over the world.