Being a Judge in Israel | An Interview with Jeffery Nance

Jeff Nance is originally from Charleston, South Carolina, served in
the Sydney Australia Mission, and graduated from Brigham Young
University in Political Science as an ROTC scholarship student, and
from BYU’s J. Reuben Clark Law School. He served in the 101st
Airborne Division, then in many capacities in Okinawa, Japan, in
the civilian personnel branch, and later in Bad Kreuznach, Germany
and Vicenza, Italy. He served as the Chief, Military Justice and
then Chief of Operational Law of V Corps and deployed to Iraq,
where he oversaw the initial reconstitution of the Iraqi criminal
courts system. Back in the United States, he served as USATDS
Region II Regional Defense Counsel before being selected to serve
as a Military Judge. Promoted to Colonel, he was transferred back
to Germany and deployed several times to preside over scores of
courts-martial in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kuwait. He later served as
Circuit Judge and then as Chief Circuit Judge in the 3rd Judicial
Circuit and 2nd Judicial Circuit. In his 13+ years as a military
judge, Colonel Nance presided over hundreds of courts-martial,
including some of the Army's most complex and high-profile cases.
After retiring from active duty in October 2018, he was sworn in as
an Immigration Judge with the Department of Justice. Being in the
Army for 30 years and living all over the world has given Jeff and
his wife Jeneen many service opportunities. He is currently serving
as a bishop in his eighth bishopric and has served as a nursery
leader, youth Sunday School teacher, primary teacher, elders quorum
president, high priest group leader, and stake high counselor. Jeff
and Jeneen are the proud parents of three children and three
grandchildren. Highlights 02:00 Kurt shares Jeff's background and
how they met. 06:00 Jeff shares his schooling and career path to
becoming a judge in the military. 21:10 The last case that Jeff
worked on was the very high profile case, United States vs.
Bergdahl. Jeff shares some of the background of the case. 31:20
After getting out of the military Jeff was called as bishop in
Charleston. He describes his experience of getting called. 37:10
Advice to those that have to judge. Being a judge in Israel is
helping people to repent. Where do justice and mercy come together?
40:30 How do you balance justice and mercy? It’s not just about
paying the price for what they’ve done. It’s about being redeemed.
You must judge each case differently. 46:20 The process of making
decisions when judging. How do you know you are making the right
decision? Jeff shares what he refers to as the "Parley principle."
52:50 Impossible calls to make. Jeff talks about having doubts
about decisions that he made but how he finds peace with it also.
56:00 Reprove with sharpness only when the spirit indicates to do
so. 1:01:45 The church system versus the legal system. Jesus always
leaned towards mercy. 1:05:00 Our role 99% of the time is to help
people apply the Atonement. Leaders need to discuss what things
that person needs for repentance and in some cases what needs to be
done to protect the name of the church. 1:07:50 Jeff’s experience
in the church helped him more in his career than his career has
helped him in the church. 1:09:30 Jeff shares his final thoughts
and the biggest things that he has learned in his time in
leadership. Links TRANSCRIPT coming soon Watch on YouTube Get
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