Six-year-old joins Judge Ferguson on the Bench

A six-year-old Fairland East Elementary School student was recently invited to sit on the bench with Cabell County Circuit Judge Alfred Ferguson and participate in court cases.

On August 3, Jesse Lewis, in a suit and tie, walked into Judge Ferguson's courtroom and spent about two hours on the bench, listening to cases brought before him and Judge Ferguson.

"You're in luck today. You've got two judges," Ferguson told the audience. "Hopefully, Judge Jesse's decisions will be a little better than mine."

Lewis is the son of Susan Roghe, a friend of Judge Ferguson. According to The [Huntington] Herald-Dispatch, she told Judge Ferguson about Jesse's obsession with playing a judge and how he sets up a courtroom in his living room at home. Then, with his stuffed animals and any willing adult participants, he acts out court cases, mostly involving bank robberies and theft.

"I said, 'Well, have him come over,' " Judge Ferguson told the Huntington paper. "I want to encourage people to do things that they want to do in life."

Besides sitting in on the cases, Lewis was given a tour of the courtroom and Judge Ferguson's private office.

"I wanted to see what it was like to be a judge with the robe and bigger courtroom," Lewis said.

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