January 14, 2020
The Hon. Junius P. Fulton III to Receive the 2020 Carrico Professionalism Award
The Honorable Junius P. Fulton III will receive the Harry L. Carrico Professionalism Award from the VSB Criminal Law Section on February 14, 2020, at the Criminal Law Seminar in Williamsburg. The Carrico award was named for the former Supreme Court of Virginia chief justice who promoted the ideals of professionalism during his 42 years on the state’s highest court.
One lawyer wrote in her nomination that Judge Fulton has a “sharp wit and compassion for those in need while also being able to clearly articulate rulings on complex legal issues. He is respectful to litigants and to criminal defendants even when they have been charged with horrible offenses.”
Judge Fulton became interested in the law as a young boy when his father, a Norfolk businessman, was murdered in his office by his business partner. Judge Fulton attended the three-day trial where the defendant was convicted of manslaughter, and from that tragedy Judge Fulton would derive his keen interest in justice and the law. In a twist of fate, years later when he ascended to the bench, Judge Fulton took the seat of Judge Alfred W. Whitehurst, who had once been the zealous Commonwealth’s attorney who had fought so hard for a conviction in his father’s murder that the judge in that trial threatened to fine him $100 if he didn’t stop arguing after a sustained objection.
For over 20 years, Judge Fulton has served as a judge of the Norfolk Circuit Court. Judge Fulton oversaw the development and implementation of both the Norfolk Drug Court and Reentry Court dockets. He claims the distinction of being the longest serving Drug Court judge in the Commonwealth, having presided over the Drug Court docket continuously from 1998 to 2018.
Judge Fulton has chaired or participated in numerous justice system committees, including the Judicial Education Committee of the Judicial Conference of Virginia, Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee, Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission, State Drug Treatment Court Advisory Committee, Virginia Supreme Court’s Special Committee on Problem Solving Dockets, and Circuit Court Judge’s Benchbook Committee. He is also a member of the Virginia and National Association of Drug Court Professionals. As a member of the National Association of Drug Court Professionals, Judge Fulton served as an executive member of a task force commissioned to draft key components for reentry court programs.
He has lectured on specialized dockets at a variety of conferences including, 2014 Council of State Governments’ Second Chance Act Conference, 2015 Southern Legislative Conference, and 2017 Conference of National Association of Presiding Court Officers.
Prior to his appointment to the bench, Judge Fulton served as an assistant Commonwealth’s attorney for the City of Norfolk and later in the private practice of law representing litigants in a variety of courts in the Commonwealth.
Judge Fulton graduated from the University of Virginia and received his JD from Marshall-Wythe School of Law at the College of William & Mary.
Updated: Jan 14, 2020