Judge Jim Hudson update

Many of you have asked about Jim Hudson, the former elected Prosecuting Attorney here in the 8th Judicial District who's served on the circuit bench for several terms now. Hudson, 54, underwent a surgical procedure to remove cancer on March 27 and was recovering nicely until a post-surgical infection set in. He coded on April 3 and has been fighting for his life since then. I'm in Little Rock today in meetings and will stop by UAMS to visit his family. He's currently stable but very fragile. A Caring Bridge site has been set up by the family, and it is updated several times daily with his status. The site has already received 20,000 hits. An update from yesterday morning on the site noted that he's continuing to lose blood internally. They're going to go back to the OR this morning to remove internal packing and check the bleeding status again.

Jim is the guy at Wednesday night bible study who sits in the back and fills up a notepad with notes (as if he needs it -- he runs an advanced adult Sunday school class that would entertain most biblical scholars). He's as equally attentive on the bench while hearing even the most mundane cases. Being a circuit judge, he's always being interrupted on Sunday mornings at church (especially on Sunday mornings) by local law enforcement to sign warrants, etc. I was an usher one day last year when several law enforcement officers came in the church looking for him. I went and got him from his pew and told him that he must have some warrants to sign. I found out later that morning that they were there to tell him that his son had died overnight. Jim is now fighting for his life, and over a hundred showed last night at FUMC for a prayer vigil. Bill Clinton put in a call late last week.