Hummel:  `` This week, with news of an impending change on the fifth floor of the Garrahy  Courthouse - we sit down with the man whose name has been synonymous with Family Court for more than a generation.''

Since 1987, Judge Jeremiah S. Jeremiah Jr. has presided over Courtroom 5A -  hearing  thousands of cases involving divorces, child custody, juvenile crime, abuse and adoption. It is often a place without a happy ending. And one that hasn't gotten as much public attention as the state's other courts, largely because of confidentiality laws surrounding juveniles.

Hummel: ``With the exception of  an occasional adoption, this is a tough court, isn't it?''

Jeremiah: ``Oh, it sure is. Because no one's ever happy, on a divorce case - someone's paying too much, or someone's not paying enough. Or they're using the children as pawns in dealing with the other party, they're not happy.''

Jeremiah was first appointed to the bench by Gov. Edward DiPrete in 1986 and promoted to the chief judge's job a year later.

Hummel: ``How has this court changed over the  past 20 years?''

Jeremiah: ``Well, I think it's become more liberal - same sex adoptions. Father's get  custody - it used to be no one else was fit to take the child except the mother. We now award custody to the  father on a more frequent basis.''

Jeremiah, who oversees 18 judges and 150 staff members across the state says society has changed a lot since he became chief.

Jeremiah: ``Children have no value as to life - I've had kids shot because they didn't like what sidewalk they are on. I've had kids shot because they didn't pay for a haircut. I've had kids shot because they owed somebody $20. That's changed. There's no respect for authority - absolutely no respect for authority anymore.''

Rhode Island's most notorious teenage killer, Craig Price, also prompted a change in the law, allowing juveniles to be tried as adults. Price, who first murdered someone when he was 13, was clearly a child committing adult crimes. Jeremiah says the decision to waive a juvenile into adult court hinges largely on whether a judge believes the child can be rehabilitated.
Hummel: ``Do you go into most cases believing the child can be rehabilitated?''
Jeremiah: ``Yes.''
Hummel: ``In what percentage does that not happen?''
Jeremiah: ``Maybe 25 or 30 percent.''
Jeremiah has been criticized over the years by some who says he is too cozy with certain lawyers, using the secrecy of juvenile cases to conduct backroom deals out of the public eye. The judge shrugs it off, saying the title chief carries with it a target.
Hummel: ``What do you say to your critics who say, `He's not running the court the way it should be...there's a lot of back room and all of that.' We've heard that recently.''
Jeremiah: ``You always get criticized. Nobody's perfect, I just do the best I can.''
But it's clear Jeremiah, who is 74, has lost some speed off his fastball. And the judge himself admits he's leaving for health reasons. He has had complications from a fall and has to use a wheelchair. The chief, who has a career-full of awards on the wall of his 6th-floor office, told us when we interviewed him earlier this month he had no set date for his retirement.
Jeremiah: ``I've told the governor I'll stay until my successor is appointed.''
Hummel: ``You know he's not the quickest with the judicial appointments.''
Jermiah: ``I may be here a year.''
Hummel: ``Seriously?''
Jeremiah: ``I don't think I will be...''
Hummel: ``Have you told the governor to pick up the pace?''
Jeremiah: ``Yes.''
But last week - he announced he's leaving at the end of June.
The Hummel Report has since learned that Jeremiah may be leaving sooner rather than later because of several complaints pending before the state's Commission on Judicial Tenure and Discipline. His retirement would, in effect, end those complaints.
Whatever the reason, he's already begun the process of going through more than two decades of paperwork and memories, preparing for his departure.
Hummel: ``What advice do you have for your successor, who sits in your chair?''
Jeremiah: ``You have to be compassionate. This court is half law and half common sense and you have to be compassionate and understanding.''
Hummel: ``What are you going to miss most?''
Jeremiah: ``Working with kids and a great staff. I have great staff. But working with kids.''
In Providence, Jim Hummel, for The Hummel Report.

For more than two decades the name Jeremiah S. Jeremiah  Jr. has been synonymous with Rhode Island's Family Court. Jeremiah, the chief judge since 1987, has been the public face of a court where much of the action takes place out of public view. His tenure, though, has not been without controversy. This week Jim Hummel sits down for an extended interview with the judge - who is retiring in June - to talk about why he's leaving, and some of the changes he's seen during his tenure on the bench.