What Happened to Judge Garth on The Virginian

Garth was a Virginia gentleman who always tried to do the right thing. He was an honorable man, and he always tried to be fair in his dealings with others. But sometimes, even the best of us make mistakes. Garth was no exception. In fact, one mistake he made cost him his reputation and his livelihood. Let’s take a closer look at what happened to judge garth on the virginian.

In the late 18th century, Garth was a respected judge of what would later become Roanoke, Virginia. When he first arrived in the New World from Great Britain, he set out to make a name for himself and succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. After serving as justice of the peace and deputy surveyor – among other things – he was appointed judge of the newly created court of equity. He was at the top of his game and revered by all who knew him.

That is, until he allowed a crime to go unpunished out of fear for his family’s safety.

James Scott and Henry Skaggs were two men who had been charged with stealing and selling some of Garth’s horses. They had also threatened his son, who was a witness against them. Since the men had no remorse for their crimes and no intention of giving up, Judge Garth decided to allow them to evade punishment in order to protect his child. After all, he reasoned, justice would be better served if the criminals were allowed to go free.

Unfortunately, by allowing the crime to go unpunished and giving the two men a pass on their crimes, Judge Garth lost the respect of his peers. The people in power were known to not be lenient with criminals and allowed them no quarter or escape from justice. Therefore, by showing mercy he broke protocol and was ostracized by his fellow members of the Virginia legal fraternity.

To make matters worse, court records show that Judge Garth was caught in a lie when he testified before the bar association about his choice to let James Scott and Henry Skaggs go free. Signed statements were taken from all parties involved  including Judge Garth himself explaining that James Scott and Henry Skaggs were to receive no special treatment.

The people in power demanded that Garth resign, but the judge would not bow to their demands. He felt that his decision was sound and did what he thought was best for everyone involved. For the remainder of his life, Judge Garrett suffered public humiliation at the hands of his fellow legal professionals for his choice.

Many people defend Judge Garth’s actions by claiming that he did what any parent would have done under the circumstances. They maintain that his son was threatened and upholding justice would not serve anyone’s purposes at the time. While this argument has merit, the fact remains that the judge broke an oath in order to protect his child. As a result, the heavy-handed legal community of Virginia stripped him of his power and dignity.

If you’re interested in reading more about Judge Garth, simply click on this link for an excellent article. You can also read another great article about judge garth here . He’s definitely one of the more interesting characters to emerge from American history.

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