Over the last year or so during our weekly media lunches, I’ve had the opportunity to get to know Terrell Myles, chief city Prosecutor for the Shreveport City Court. So here’s an opportunity for Forum readers to get to know Myles who is running for city court judge against incumbent Shiva Sims.

This isn’t Myles’ first run for office; six years ago he ran against attorney Pammela Lattier for a Shreveport City Court judgeship. Lattier also qualified to run for a City Court judgeship in the Nov. 4 election; she is unopposed for the seat she seeks.

In his current run for judge, Myles said: “I prayed on it a lot and I know what I can bring to the bench is a different perspective. I’ve been a prosecutor for 13 years; I see a lot of the people who come in with problems and issues and my job is not only to prosecute, but to try to fix people’s problems. And I felt that as a prosecutor I can only do so much. But as a judge, I can do more because I’m in a position to help implement some new programs through the court that would benefit the people who come through the court.”

Myles said while the city court does offer programs to assist some of those who come though the system, he’d like to offer more in the way of “schooling.” He said there are programs for domestic battery intervention, but believes that, “We need to have a little more hands on as to when we send you there, we have a check back to the court … know how the progress is coming along.”

“We also have a life skills class set up – and that was good, but we can always add to these classes to make it a little bit better. People learn well from these classes, but I think we should have a few more than what we offer.”

After 13-1/2 years [as a city court prosecutor,] I’ve seen a lot of it come through there and I’ve got a good perspective [on what’s needed].”

Myles also discussed what he believes makes a good judge, saying the first imperative is “You have to know the law. The best judges are the ones that are smart. They know the law and they are even-tempered. They listen and then they weigh everything.

I think those are the things that make a good judge. You don’t react, not working from emotion – there’s no room for that because in a courtroom setting, emotions are going everywhere, so someone in there has to be on an even keel.”

“Justice needs to be meted out, but there’s a way to do it. It’s supposed to be fair. You know, you don’t talk down to people; you sentence people and then you offer them some encouragement, as opposed to making people [feel] real, real small because a lot of people [who appear in court] are embarrassed to come in; a lot of people are confused; a lot of people are scared, so you don’t want to add to that. You want to do the job and move them along – get them out of there as best you can to the next case – just be fair, show some mercy and try to fix problems,” Myles said.

Myles is a 1994 graduate of Southern University’s Law School. Prior to taking the Shreveport City Court chief prosecutor position, his general practice included most areas  of law including family law, wills and successions, civil cases, criminal cases and civil rights cases.

He’s a native of Houma but has been a Shreveport resident for nearly 14 years.

“I’m just not a Cowboy fan yet – a full Cowboy fan. I was born and raised a Saints fan. I remember when the Saints played at Tulane Stadium way back in the day, and we’d go to the Superdome when there would be nobody there – so I’m a die-hard Saints fan.”

Myles’ wife, Stephanie Moore, and her family are a longtime Shreveport family; she is a speech-language pathologist for Caddo Schools. They have no children, but according to the candidate, “But we have so many kids at her school, Atkins Elementary. For the past nine years, I’ve sponsored an Easter Egg Hunt every year. I used to do it at Central before they closed.”

Terrell and Stephanie belong to New Star Baptist Church in Shreveport.