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Judge's Divorce Call a Happy Ending for Many Participants

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Judge Scott Stephens oversees a lot of divorce cases. But because the parties routinely represent themselves and are simply seeking a legal end to the relationship in his Tampa, Fla., courtroom, they’re often cheery about what they see as a new beginning.

It took about five minutes for Stephens to grant a divorce to Maria Rosa, who hadn’t seen her husband in 23 years. Meanwhile her adult son didn’t even have to translate, as she had expected—the judge speaks Spanish, reports the St. Petersburg Times.

Mother and son thanked the judge, and, as soon as they got out of the courtroom, threw their arms around each other in a ferocious hug, recounts the newspaper in an article about a recent day on the judge’s call.

“Who says you can’t make people happy in this job?” Stephens says.

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