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Judges swap jobs to help one's health
By BRIDGET HALL GRUMET, Times Staff Writer
DADE CITY -- Overwhelmed by a heavy case load and failing eyesight, Circuit Judge Lynn Tepper will trade places with another judge next month so she can have a more flexible schedule. Tepper said the May 1 swap with Circuit Judge Linda Babb, who presides over civil cases at the Dade City courthouse, will give her "room to breathe." "I'm eligible to have additional (eye) surgery after May," said Tepper, who has had 20 procedures in recent years as her right eye deteriorated. "That's going to take up some time while I do that, so hopefully I can restore my vision; and my docket wouldn't let me do that." Tepper oversees the unified family court, a pilot program she helped create in Pasco County. Her division pulls together a range of family cases -- divorce proceedings, child support, juvenile delinquency, domestic violence -- so one judge hears all of the cases involving a single family. She remains a passionate advocate of the system but said it can be a demanding case load for one judge. Hearings for domestic violence injunctions and other matters, for example, must occur within a fixed time frame, she said. That leaves her with little time to put together a better case management system, help other jurisdictions start their unified family courts -- or take time out for the laser eye surgery she needs. Tepper has acute glaucoma in her right eye, and a previous laser surgery did more harm than good by creating scar tissue inside the eye. She cannot see much from that eye, and what she can see is fractured into multiple images. The vision problem causes headaches and makes it difficult for her to read through the stacks of briefs, reports and other paperwork that accumulate in the family court division. "I probably should have done this a much longer time ago and put my health first; but I'm workaholic and very committed to the unifed family court, and I didn't want to take the time," Tepper admitted. In December she started asking Chief Administrative Judge David Demers to help ease her case load. When Babb became a judge in January, she helped Tepper by taking some dependency and juvenile delinquency cases. "As soon as I started, we began trying to fit some things in that I could help with, because the family law division is an extremely busy and stressful division, and she had been there almost five years," Babb said. "She had been there awhile; she had health problems; I'm interested (in family law); and I'm her friend, so I didn't mind." Demers met with both judges last Tuesday and announced the switch two days later. Such trades are routine among judges, said Ron Stuart, spokesman for the Pasco-Pinellas judicial circuit. "It's not unusual to switch assignments," Stuart said. "They usually do it every two years or so." In this case, he said, Demers wanted to give Tepper more time to seek the eye surgery she needs. Tepper will keep some cases in which she has extensive knowledge of the family's complicated history. She also will remain involved in the statewide effort to create unified family courts in other jurisdictions, and she will help Babb as needed. Also, Tepper is set to be the keynote speaker at a family court conference April 26 at Gulf Coast Community College in Panama City. "(Tepper) has developed the unifed family court, and she really has been devoted to it for years," Babb said. "If I have any questions I'll come to her; we'll still work together on it, and she's going to keep some of it. I'm going to make sure she can be proud of the work she has done."
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