“A part of me wishes the public could see how I toss and turn at night and lose
sleep or have to go on an extra run because of the emotional aspect that comes with
making hard decisions, even though it’s the right thing to do,” said Rizza
according to the law. A part of me wishes they could see
how I toss and turn at night and lose sleep or have to
go on an extra run because of the emotional aspect that
comes with making hard decisions, even though it’s the
right thing to do.”
Many who enter her courtroom choose to represent
themselves because of the cost for legal counsel. “We tell
people that it’s best to have a lawyer, but 90% of cases
that come through my court are people representing
themselves. The good thing is that if someone doesn’t
like the judgement made in Magistrate Court, they can
still appeal to a higher court and basically start over with
their case.”
While the rest of us are watching an hour-long
episode of some cop and robber show on Crime TV, real
justice is not quite as quick to resolve. The criminal side
of Rizza’s work means that arrest warrants and search
warrants for both felonies and misdemeanors must be
signed regardless of the time of day or night. “And crime
happens at all hours of the night,” said Rizza. “We have
so many different agencies from the Georgia Bureau of
Investigation, the Toombs County Sheriff’s Department,
the Lyons Police Department, the Vidalia Police
Department, and the Georgia State Patrol. Typically, if
there is cause for somebody to be arrested, the police get
called out. They do their investigation and then type out
the warrant for us. The police bring the physical warrant
to one of our Judges, and if there is a reasonable belief
that a crime has been committed, the Judge on call signs
the warrant.”
On June 8, 2018, Rizza will be sworn in as the 72nd
President of the Young Lawyers Division (YLD) of the
State Bar of Georgia by Justice Keith Blackwell of the
Supreme Court of Georgia at the Omni Plantation at
Amelia Island. She will be the first Asian-American in
Georgia to hold the position and one of few to ever be
elected from outside of the Atlanta area. Members are
made up of any lawyer age thirty-six or younger who has
passed the bar in Georgia. The organization currently has
about 10,000 members.
“Each President has the liberty of picking what
kinds of programs and initiatives they want to do,” said
Rizza. “My signature project as YLD President is to
use technology to make affordable legal representation
more accessible to those in rural areas. There’s a legal
incubator program in Atlanta called Lawyers for Equal
Justice. It’s made up of about 25 young lawyers who have
separate firms but all share office space in a building in
downtown Atlanta. I have partnered with the Lawyers for
Equal Justice to develop a program where these lawyers
will be able to file cases electronically and then represent
litigants in court remotely through video-conferencing.
This program would provide a much needed service
because it gives access to legal representation for less.
“We’ve already got my courtroom fitted for the program,”
said Rizza. “My hope is that with the program’s success in
Toombs County, it will be enacted in other places across
Georgia.”
Another goal is partnering with Family Connections
Director Paige Williamson to bring the iCivics program
started by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor to
Toombs County. “Many schools have moved
away from teaching civics,” said Rizza. “This
is an online program with games that takes
a student through almost every single level
of government, from county government
to state government all the way up to the
Supreme Court. It’s designed for upper
elementary to middle school age. It’s my goal
to try to get it into the schools here and into
after school programs.”
The Vidalia and Toombs County schools
have recently been more aggressive about
unexcused absences, which is also a result
of Rizza’s efforts. “I want people to be aware
that if you have a child between the ages
54 Toombs County Magazine
LEFT Rizza became an overnight celebrity
when a family member contacted one of
the major networks in the Philippines and
told them of Rizza’s many accomplishments.