COBB COUNTY, GA — At Cobb County DUI Court graduation last week, eleven people graduated — and one grad from the past made an appearance for a special swearing-in ceremony, speaking to the power of a second chance.
Prior to last week’s graduation, Jacob Pruitt was sworn into the Georgia Bar as a lawyer by Judge Eric Brewton, the DUI Court Judge for the State Court of Cobb County. Typically, those who pass the bar exam are sworn in by a judge in the Superior Court, but Pruitt got an exception.
Pruitt was convicted of two DUIs in less than four months before starting Cobb DUI Court, and graduated 15 months later. He said he knew he was going to ask for Brewton to perform the swearing-in ceremony before he even knew if he passed the bar exam.
“I am honored that the Superior Court would allow me to swear you in,” Brewton told Pruitt Tuesday.
Pruitt said he took the opportunity to participate in DUI Court mostly to forego jail time, but got something much better out of it.
“I don’t know what I expected from this program, or if I came into it with any solid expectations, but what I got though was a second chance. I don’t know any people who’ve led such a charmed life that they haven’t made any serious mistakes, but when I got here, I’d been making them for years,” Pruitt said. “Thank you for giving me the tools I needed so I could earn the second chances that others were willing to offer me.”
Pruitt will now practice family law after completing internships at family law firms in Marietta, the Marietta Daily Journal reported.
DUI Court is a voluntary, post-conviction, treatment-based program for people convicted of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs twice in 10 years, three times overall, or those who have been convicted of a DUI for the first time but have a history of reckless driving convictions, according to the DUI Court website.
To watch the video of Pruitt’s swearing-in ceremony, visit Cobb County’s YouTube channel.
