Judge Roy Sparkman contributed his fascinating article “How a Retired Judge Started Writing Fiction” to our Summer of Fun series. I had the chance to speak with Judge Sparkman a bit more about his writing and legal careers.
Bob: You spent years as a state district judge. What originally led you to pursue a career in law and then as a judge?
Judge Sparkman: Actually, I intended to go into business and subsequently obtained a BBA – without ever considering becoming an attorney. After graduating, I joined a family business and realized within 2 months I didn’t like it at all! I remembered the Business Law class I had in college and that I really enjoyed it. I loved trying to figure out what the law was and how judges would analyze the law to make decisions, and I found satisfaction knowing there were a lot of grey areas in the law that would let me argue! As I was trying to analyze whether to go to law school, I talked to a friend of my in-laws that was a lawyer and he REALLY encouraged me to go to law school. He even made efforts to help me get into Baylor Law School. Another motivating factor was that about all you ever heard about lawyers were negative things! I believed there was room for Christian attorneys that could represent their clients well but maintain Christian principles. Once I started law school – even though it was very hard – I loved it!
When I graduated from law school, I still thought my path would be as a commercial lawyer and NEVER doing litigation or trial work. But Baylor emphasized litigation, and as a young starving lawyer I had to take whatever cases came my way! Of course that would include litigation! I began to have positive results in the courtroom and that part of the practice began to grow. It was not long until I reached the conclusion that the courtroom was where the action was for me! When your career and livelihood centers around the courtroom – with judges at the center of the action making critical decisions – you begin to focus on the judges. I will confess – there were a few times I thought – I could do better than that! Then, there were some people who believed I could be a good judge and that encouraged me to run – and ultimately, I was successful. I considered the role as a judge to be a position of great trust and responsibility that can have tremendous impact on people’s lives. I never wanted to abuse or neglect that trust.
Bob: What was your favorite part of being a judge? What was the hardest part?
Judge Sparkman: By far, my favorite cases were adoptions. I referred to those cases as “happy law cases”. Everyone was in agreement and recognized the great impact on a child and family’s life because of an adoption. I loved having the child and family gather around me on the bench for pictures and seeing all the smiles. A couple of times a sibling child would grab the gavel and I had to duck! But it was all good!
Probably the hardest part would be making decisions involving the custody of children – knowing the impact it could have on that child’s life. Which parent should have the primary right to make important decisions? CPS cases involving abuse and neglect – do you return the child or do you remove them? Those cases always weighed heavily on me because I would want to protect the child – but that decision was not always clear.
Another one of the hardest parts would be based upon the facts of criminal cases – with victims (including children that had been abused). Or families trying to hold on after a heinous murder.
As a judge – to a certain extent – you are required to “set aside” your personal feelings and apply the law to be sure both sides receive a fair trial. Sometimes, because of the heinous circumstances of a case that can be very difficult.
Bob: I resonate with your story because I also have found a “second career” in writing. What originally inspired you to write fiction?
Judge Sparkman: During the summers when I was growing up, my mother would take me and my siblings to the public library where we would check out books and try to get several books read during the summer. That involvement with reading started my love of reading and books.
As an adult in a very trying profession that required a lot of serious reading, when I would have downtime, I would want to read fiction books. Fiction books would allow me to “unplug” my brain and just roll with the story. Reading is my relaxing pleasure.
Over the years it seemed that a lot of the fiction books with action would contain a lot of language that I didn’t like and that didn’t add to the story. Or there would be sexual scenes that I felt did not represent the type of views and perspectives that would feed my views and life choices as a Christian. I looked for and wanted, different kind of fiction that had different plots and perspectives – including some of the challenges of living the Christian life.
As I semi-retired from sitting as a District Judge, I found myself with the time to be able to write that I had not previously enjoyed.
Plus, I had a couple of experiences that presented real-life stories and consequences that I hoped could provide interesting reading but also cause the readers to engage and think about the stories.
Bob: Your first novel, The Pastor’s Pit, imagines a scenario where a pastor is sent to prison for preaching God’s Word. How possible is that in America?
Judge Sparkman: The reality of this scenario is frighteningly conceivable to me. The basis for the story is that over 25 years ago I had a pastor that was preaching a particular passage in the Bible and referenced some children’s books in the public library that portrayed a lifestyle contrary to Scripture. He encouraged the City Council to pass an Ordinance requiring those books to be placed behind the librarian’s desk rather than placing them prominently and promoting them. That Ordinance was passed, and an ACLU attorney filed a lawsuit against the city to set aside the Ordinance. My pastor was required to give a deposition and be a witness at the trial where his Biblical convictions were attacked. I was my pastor’s attorney at both of those events. It got me thinking that in that case my pastor was only a witness, but what if the pastor was charged with a crime for preaching the Bible? In the book, I try to outline how the laws – and those responsible for enforcing the laws – could be used to create the scenario for a pastor being criminally charged simply for preaching the Bible. The Coronavirus pandemic proved how possible this scenario could be. We saw pastors charged, ticketed and threatened. In Canada, there are pastors that have been arrested for preaching that the Bible hates abortion. I hope the book would help Christians recognize the potential threat and be mindful and watchful to try to prevent such consequences.
Bob: The sequel, The Kids’ Pit, deals with some very serious issues such as abuse, adoption, and forgiveness. Were any of these themes inspired by things you witnessed in your career as a judge?
Judge Sparkman: Unfortunately, as a lawyer and then as a judge - yes. I could list several instances in the book that were based on some aspect of reality, but here are a few:
A pastor friend had his daughter run away and there were several days when he wondered if she was dead or alive.
My wife and I taught a Sunday School class of newlywed/young married couples, and I got a call one day from the husband whose pregnant wife was in the hospital and the doctor said he needed to take the baby to save his wife’s life or there was big risk he would lose both. They had a 2-year-old little girl at the time; both were opposed to abortion, and it was a gut-wrenching decision.
Having handled many adoptions as a lawyer, and then granting many adoptions as a lawyer, I am reminded of both the practical beauty of that situation but also of the fact that I am adopted by God – as his child – and how undeserving yet how blessed I am because of that fact.
I was privileged to be the first judge to preside over the CPS Adoption Day in our county, and there were several children that had been in the CPS system that were being adopted. One of those scenarios was a boy (8 or 9) being adopted that wanted to sit in the adoptive mom’s lap during her testimony. In the middle of the hearing, he reached up and grabbed the microphone and yelled “this is the happiest day of my life!” I have never forgotten that experience and am mindful as an adopted child of God, every day should be “the happiest day of my life!”
The Texas law allowing children to obtain an abortion without parental notice is reality. There are attorneys in Texas who specialize in utilizing the Parental By-pass option presented by Texas law.
One or more aspects of the above scenarios are presented in the book and are based on reality.
Excellent interview!
What a great interview! I absolutely loved hearing Judge Roy's joy presiding over adoption days. God's way of blessing the hard cases. As a professional photographer I had the opportunity to photograph several children & teens many years ago for The Heart Gallery. It was beautiful but also broke my heart that several had been in foster care their whole lives.
I enjoyed this tremendously! Thank you both! 🙌🏻