By: Savannah Havird, Contributing Writer
On Oct 22 2019, Gregory P. Holder, Thirteenth Judicial Circuit Civil Court, Division E of Hillsborough County Judge came to Saint Leo University to talk to about his career and his journey to get to where he is today. This event took place in the Selby auditorium at 5:30pm. Jeanine Ramirez, Senior political science major and president of Political Science Honor Society, set up this event for her honor society and anybody else who wanted to join.
Judge Holder focuses majority of his time on veteran’s rights, but he has worked in many courts in the past. These include, County, Circuit, County Criminal, Juvenile Delinquency and Dependency, General Civil, Family Law, Circuit Civil, Felony Division, Veterans Treatment Court and Circuit Civil.
He talked about the statists involving veterans relating to drugs, alcohol and homelessness. A statistic he mentioned in his speech was that 14% of the homeless in America are veterans. He went on to talk about veteran’s court. The purpose this court system is to try cases of minor offenses which involve veterans, particularly veterans who are diagnosed with service-related illnesses. He also gave awareness to how close the problem is to Saint Leo University relating to drugs. “Manatee County is having major heroin problems” he stated “the drug epidemic is not over yet.”
He believes that veterans should be able to seek help for their problems and that more should be done about their service-related illnesses, substances problems and the crimes that are attached. He began working in Veterans Treatment Court in 2015, which is the court system designed to provide resources and support for veterans involved with in a minor crime, rather than a punishment. The goal is to help with mental health and/or drugs instead of incarceration. After servicing in the military for 25 years, Judge Holder dedicated his practices to the veteran court system. “I believe veterans court is my calling” Judge Holder stated in his speech.
Even those Judge Holder is retiring as of my next year, all the high morals and dedication that he put into Hillsborough County will remain. In his retired life, Judge holder is going to pursue other interest, while his heart remains in the Veteran Court system.
