Nashville judge, drug court pioneer returns to his old courtroom for special honor

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — A special honor Thursday for a long-time Nashville judge who established a "drug court" that became a model for the nation.

Criminal court judge Seth Norman, who retired in 2018, was back in his old courtroom surrounded by a who's who in Nashville politics and the legal community.

Former Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam and former Nashville Mayor Bill Purcell were among the dignitaries who attended the unveiling of a portrait of Norman to hang on the wall in Division Four in the A.A. Birch courts building where Norman meted out justice measured with compassion for nearly three decades.

Norman established Tennessee's first drug court in 1996, changing lives by combining incarceration with drug treatment.

The portrait is the work of internationally known portrait artist Igor Babailov. The Russian born maestro, deemed a "living master" by his peers, was selected to paint the legacy portraits of U.S. presidents, foreign prime ministers, members of the British royal family and three living Popes for the Vatican.

FOX 17 News has featured Babailov's work before, most recently in 2015 when he was commissioned to paint Pope Francis’ official portrait for the Catholic Church.

"You can't punish someone out of addiction," Judge Norman told the crowd.

He says a drug treatment bed costs a fourth of what it takes to house an inmate in a Tennessee prison. Judge Norman's specific approach to mixing punishment with long-term treatment in his own facility was adopted by the White House Drug Czar in the late 1990's who mandated it become the model for federally funded drug courts across the nation.