Judge appeals to young people to live a holy life

• By MARK H. HUNTER
• Special to The Advocate
• Published: Jul 19, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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“If you don’t want your case before me in court, you need to make good choices and live a holy life.”

That’s a warning 1st Circuit Court of Appeal Judge John Michael Guidry gives to area young people as often as he can.

“If I can inspire them to make good choices on the front end, I won’t have to deal with them in the criminal justice system,” Guidry, 46, said.

The judge known for his inspirational messages regularly speaks at Black History Month events and is sought after to speak to teens at end of school-year, commencement and church youth events as well.

“I try to scare them straight, in a sense, and tell them they’ll like me much better as a speaker than as a judge.”

Last month he spoke to nearly 300 teens and parents at the second annual Interdenominational International Fellowship youth conference at the Holiday Inn South in Baton Rouge. He harmonized his own message with the conference’s theme, “How to live holy in an unholy world,” based on the life of the biblical prophet Samuel.

“How did Samuel remain holy?” the judge asked the teens. “He sought righteousness and he had his mind right.

“Too many young people today have their minds messed up,” Guidry said, warning the students as he clenched his fists with intensity. “I see too many young people who didn’t listen to their mothers and fathers — but they’ll listen to me when they have shackles on their wrists.”

Although many young people grow up attending church, Guidry said, “they have religion in their hands and their feet, but they don’t have Christ in their heart. 

“Samuel heard the word of the Lord,” Guidry said. “When you hear the word of the Lord be sure to listen!”

Guidry, who rose to prominence from poverty, uses his own life as an example. He credits his mother’s spirituality and his early Sunday School attendance as a foundation for his success.

He grew up in “The Bottom,” an impoverished African-American neighborhood now known as “Old South Baton Rouge.”

“They used to call me poor, they used to call me ‘at-risk,’ they used to put me down because I had a single mother, but what they didn’t know is I have a heavenly father,” Guidry said. “Just because you grow up in