By Hayden Hillyer and Cat Gavrilidis
Jason Fletcher (J.D. ’20) was entrusted with enforcing laws long before he came to Georgia State Law to learn their origins. As a Georgia State Trooper, he investigated the underlying dynamics of traffic crashes, ranging from fender benders to fatalities.
“The hardest thing I ever had to do was tell mamas, daddies, brothers, and sisters that their loved one wasn’t coming home,” Fletcher said. “I’ve hugged ‘em, cried with ‘em, and waited until their preacher got there. There’s nothing in this world harder than telling an individual that their loved one is not coming home.”
Fletcher’s passion for highway safety grew with each day on the job. He wanted to have a larger, positive impact on highway safety, and realized that he could make a difference and bring about change by becoming an attorney.
“Our community standards are established and enforced by juries in courtrooms, and that’s where I want to be,” Fletcher said.
He chose to attend Georgia State University, College of Law because of “the college’s great bar passage rate, numerous experiential learning possibilities, and the school’s location in the ‘nerve center’ of the state’s legal field –Atlanta.”
He added, “I made a promise to myself and to a lot of other people that I would do my best to make things better. I intend to fulfill that promise.”
Fletcher says that he is glad that he chose to attend Georgia State Law. Since being here, he has been able to build upon his experience in traffic enforcement and accident investigations. Upon graduation, he wants to pursue a career in traffic crash litigation.