Macon federal judge taking senior status, opening vacancy for new appointment

From his spot in front of a federal courtroom, Macon’s Ashley Royal helped make Middle Georgia history.

He sentenced Nuwaubian leader Malachi York to 135 years in prison after a jury convicted York of child molestation and racketeering in 2004.

He presided over the 2008 trial of Spurgeon Green Jr., a Perry physician implicated in a patient’s death.

The year before, he’d sentenced the Rev. Onslow D. Ross, a Macon pastor convicted of misappropriating nearly $400,000 in church money, to 130 months in prison.

In 2014, he presided over the Athens trial of former University of Georgia head football coach Jim Donnan, whom jurors found not guilty of participating in an alleged Ponzi scheme.

Royal, 66, is set to take senior status on Sept. 1, entering a semiretirement that allows federal judges to continue working part time with a smaller caseload. Federal judges are appointed by the president for life.

“I’m looking forward to having some more freedom,” Royal said recently. “It will be nice if I want to take off a Friday — or several Fridays in a row.”

He plans to drop his caseload to about 70 percent.

The extra time will give him opportunities to ride his bike and cook more, while also making it easier for him to continue teaching at Mercer University.

Teaching is one of his favorite hobbies, he said. Besides teaching in the law school, he’s also taught philosophy to undergraduate students.

It’s unclear when a new judge would be nominated to fill Royal’s position. It could be after the next president takes office next year.

Besides Royal, three judges and two senior judges sit on the bench in the Middle District of Georgia, handling cases in an area that runs from Georgia’s southwestern corner east through Valdosta, north through Albany and Macon, and through Athens to the South Carolina border.

A strong leader

Appointed by George W. Bush, Royal took office in early 2002 and brought “a tremendous amount of talent” to the bench, Senior Judge Hugh Lawson said.

Lawson described Royal as a patient, dignified judge with high energy who’s used intelligence and common sense as he’s presided over cases.

Chief Judge Clay Land said Royal’s decisions are “thoroughly researched and well thought out.”

Before Land took on the duties of chief judge, Royal had served in the position, managing the court’s administrative duties during tough economic times — and serious budget cuts.

“He provided strong leadership,” Land said, adding that the court avoided layoffs and furloughs while Royal was at the helm.

He said Royal also has served on a national committee for judicial resources that studies and makes recommendations for courts across the country.

Judge Leslie Abrams, the court’s newest addition, said Royal reached out to her early and helped ease her into her new role as a judge.

He lent her his staff’s help until she could get established and allowed her to jump in on some of his cases after the preliminary steps to handle trials.

“Some of the judges I was confirmed with haven’t had a trial yet,” said Abrams, who was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 2014.

Judge Marc Treadwell, who took office in 2010, said Royal has also been a mentor for him.

“Judge Royal, in my mind, is the quintessential judge,” Treadwell said. “He’s fair, but he’s very direct. There’s no mistaking what he means.”

Before becoming a judge, Royal was a partner in Macon’s Jones, Cork & Miller law firm.

He’s also a former chairman of the Bibb County Republican Party and served as the county’s campaign chairman when President George H. W. Bush won the presidency in 1988.

This story was originally published June 24, 2016 at 4:39 PM with the headline "Macon federal judge taking senior status, opening vacancy for new appointment."