All justice is local, judge understood.

Byline: George Barnes 

COLUMN: Barnestorming

It is a little bit ironic that the naming last week of the Fitchburg District Courthouse after the Gelinas family came at the same time as the closing of the courthouse in Winchendon.

Retired Judge Andre A. Gelinas always symbolized to me a man who understood community justice and the need for justice to be local and connected. A man who grew up in the community, and whose father, A. Andre Gelinas, made his mark on the community, he was someone who understood the impact of each crime on his neighbors and those living in neighborhoods he was familiar with.

Judge Gelinas also understood the importance of getting it right when a case was before him because the people on trial were also part of his community.

There is a great importance in keeping things local. It is understandable that the select few who become judges are not always chosen because of their ZIP code, but courts are not islands where people from random places are brought to be tried. They are an extension of the public safety of a community or communities, and even more so, are extensions of policies created in those communities.

How a community is run often has an impact on what will happen in a court. Far from being blind, justice must be almost prescient. A judge makes decisions that reflect back on a community and may have consequences in the future. To make sound decisions, the judge and the court need to have a connection to the community.

Judge Gelinas always had that, but courts and many institutions are becoming less connected out of financial necessity and out of foolish policy. The decision to close Winchendon Court was like a lot of decisions. It was a numbers game. It was a small court in a small community. Gardner District Court was right down the road. Why duplicate effort?

It makes sense, and it doesn't. Making things bigger and more regional is a popular mantra these days. The state Department of Education looks at super school districts as a guarantee of more bang for fewer bucks. They're probably right, but the bigger the district, the bigger the disconnect from communities.

There is a push, push, push for bigger school districts, and one wonders at what point the disconnect from community will occur.

Courts are the same way. The more communities you cram into a court, the less the judges, clerk magistrates or others who work in those courts can really understand the impact crime has on a specific community or the circumstances and lives of the defendants brought from those communities to be tried.

As justice in Fitchburg, Judge Gelinas displayed a quick mind and a keen understanding of the people brought before him. Naming the court building for him and his father is only surprising in that it was not done sooner. The Gelinas family has long been an important part of the community and has long understood the importance of community connections.

In Winchendon, justice will still be served, just a little farther away, over the town line in Gardner. It will not be a big disconnect, but it will be a disconnect that will make justice just a little less personal for the people of that town and for those traveling even farther from Royalston.

And as much as it may make economic sense, what makes greater sense is the need for justice to be personal and connected. Contact George Barnes at gbarnes@

telegram.com.