Reverend F. D. Newbill, Pastor of First Timothy Baptist Church joined by a dozen area Pastors from Duval County held a press conference in front of the Duval County Courthouse to address the alleged derogatory, racial comments made by a local sitting judge.
Pastor Newbill and others are calling for Duval Judge Mark Hulsey to immediately resign for telling his judicial assistant that “he wished all blacks could be sent back to Africa on a boat.”
Rev. Newbill sent a letter to Chief Judge Mark Mahon last week asking the Chief Judge not to assign cases involving Blacks to Hulsey’s Courtroom. Rev. Newbill stated that he was told that his letter has been forwarded to the Judicial Qualifying Committee by the Duval Chief Judge. Newbill also said that the JQC also confirmed to the Group’s attorney that they did receive a copy of his letter.
The JQC is investigating the reported incident and is expected to release the results of their investigation and their recommendation at their next meeting in July. The Pastors have also announced a series of protests and marches similar to the marches that resulted in another Jacksonville Judge leaving the bench after he was accused of making racial remarks some 24 years ago. Dr. Newbill is concerned about the fair treatment of all people by our judicial system. “According to our Judicial System, Justice is supposed to be blind, however it seems that one of our local sitting judges has removed his blindfold,” said Newbill. Also in attendance were Pastor C.R. Morgan and Pastor Jeremiah Robinson.
