On Thursday, October 20, 2016, I visited the Jackson Municipal Court in Jackson, Alabama. As I entered the courthouse I was greeted by three security guards who kindly asked me to remove my jacket and place my belongings in the bind for view. I graciously walked through a metal detector and received my belongings back upon completion. I then furthered my entrance into the huge building where I was dumbfounded by the appearance. I went to the bulletproof receptionist desk where I informed the clerk of why I was there. She kindly informed me of the courts that was going on and even suggested that I look in courtroom number two, which would probably have suited my need better.
As I walked along the narrow hallways I found that there were guards standing at each entrance and exit of the courtrooms, which gave me a since of safety while I was there. As I entered the court I found some familiar faces and others, who like I, were experiencing court for the very first time in my life. The honorable Judge George A. Bailey was presiding over the cases. Seated beside judge Bailey was Hilda Thomas, the City Magistrate. Court had approximately 35 individuals in attendance.
Judge Bailey began by calling roll and making sure every individual was in the correct court. Upon completion, he
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Defendants on this day were more compassionate towards one another than they had been shown on television shows and court cases. No matter the seriousness or minor offense of each defendant, they managed to overcome the obstacles that they had managed to hit along the way. Upon my initial view of judge Bailey, I felt that he would be hard on the defendants, but that is why you never judge a book by its’ cover. Judge Bailey showed a sense of understanding when he viewed every case and even received the opinions of others before entirely sentencing an individual, which showed his great
Your honor, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, thank you for your attention today. [Slide #2] I would like to assert that separation is not the end of a relationship. Divorce is not the end of a relationship. Even an arrest is not the end of a relationship. Only death is the end of a relationship. In the case of defendant Donna Osborn, her insistence that ‘“one way or another I’ll be free,”’ as told in the testimony of her friend Jack Mathews and repeated in many others’, indicates that despite the lack of planning, the defendant had the full intent to kill her husband, Clinton Osborn.
Throughout history there have always been issues concerning judicial courts and proceedings: issues that include everything from the new democracy of Athens, Greece, to the controversial verdict in the Casey Anthony trial as well as the Trayvon Martin trial. One of the more recent and ever changing issues revolves around cameras being allowed and used inside courtrooms. It was stated in the Handbook of Court Administration and Management by Stephen W. Hays and Cole Blease Graham, Jr. that “the question of whether or not to allow cameras in American courtrooms has been debated for nearly fifty years by scholars, media representatives, concerned citizens, and others involved in the criminal justice system.” The negatives that can be attached to the presence of cameras inside a courtroom are just as present, if not more present, than the positives that go hand-in-hand with the presence of cameras.
Many were wearing casual clothing such as jeans and a long-sleeve shirt. Many were alone or with a co-defendant while some were sitting with their family members. Two of the defendants stood out to me because they were dressed completely different from the others. One of the defendants could be described as a homeless person because they wore older, worn-out jeans and a sweatshirt. The defendant’s facial appearance also gave away to his financial background (he had a long unkempt beard and his face looked dirty). The man also appeared to be suffering from a mental illness. The other defendant could be described as a typical college student because he came to court dressed in a nice dress shirt, dress pants, and black dress shoes. His mother attended with him when he was arraigned for drunk driving. When I first saw him, I did not think that he was a defendant, in fact, I thought he was a college student from a neighboring college who was interested in the criminal justice system and was observing cases to get a better understanding of everyday processes in courtrooms. While most defendants were seated in the courtroom waiting for their name to be called, a small portion of them was also brought in by police officers in
I interviewed Beckee Partin with the County Courts. What Beckee likes most about her career is that every day is different which keeps her job very interesting. She has been a court reporter since 1996. In 20 years she has seen a lot of cases go through the court room. Trials start every Monday, Wednesday and can last 5 days each. If
Approximately twenty feet in front of me was a young man, not much older than myself, sitting in a chair facing the judge. Behind me, the family of the teenage girl who was the victim of a sexual assault. The victim and her family were hysterically crying as the prosecutor began to play a tape recording of the girl’s 911 call from the night of the assault. I sat in awe watching the way the prosecutor and the defense attorney interacted. My only purpose in the courtroom was to take notes and learn
All of a sudden, it is you that now has the importance. It’s you, the jury that has the power to potentially change the life of this man sitting here. You have the power to abide by the justice system. You have the power to do the right thing, right here. And that is to let my client, Joshua Hayden, walk away a free man today. Nothing more, nothing less.
The courtroom was jammed with anxious people, waiting for the action to get underway, staring
First off, the Supreme Court of Canada, although not as interesting as the Elgin St. Courthouse, was very interesting nonetheless. When we had arrived at approximately 9:30 in the morning, I did not know what to expect, what I was going to see. And, as we entered the courthouse—in a single file—I could not help but chuckle at the extreme security measures, and why they were put into place. Ten minutes later, after the tour guide had finished speaking, he had asked for volunteers to be involved in the mock trial. I was hesitant at first, but I decided to play the part of the lawyer at the end. As a result, I was to defend a victim of a shoe robbery, and put my acting skills to the test. At first, I read the script word for word, but soon afterwards, I became so comfortable with the hypothetical case that, by the end, I was capable of making my own closing statement without the script. In doing so, I felt like I was in a law show, fighting off crooks and giving them their deserved punishment. As a matter of fact, at the end, the defendant and I had one the case. On the whole, the Supreme Court of Canada and the mock trial in particular enhanced my field trip courthouse experience.
With a skater cut, three days of scruff, an oversized punk rock T-shirt, and a pair of torn Vans on his feet, it was hard for me not to rush to judgment. But Kyle was my client, and my job was to prepare him for his upcoming deposition. It was my last week into what had been a successful eye-opening internship at a law firm in South Florida. My Atticus Finch dreams had been somewhat shaken, and my rose colored view of the legal world had been somewhat brought down to reality, but I was still enamored with the law and the court system, though the visions of my calling surprise witnesses in order to crack a case to get my innocent client off a trumped up charge were now more steeped in veracity. I was now smack in the middle of the rather mundane
“The trial was brought to a speedy conclusion. Not only did Judge Evans find the twelve guilty, fine them $100 each, and committed them to jail, but five people in the courtroom who had served as witnesses for the defense arrested. […] The police were then instructed to transfer the seventeen prisoners that night to the county jail”(30).
I arrived at the Arapahoe County Justice Center parking lot at 9:00 A.M. in order to find cases on the docket that were being heard. When I arrived, I noticed how busy the justice center was as there were a...
In a hidden world there lies magic of mischievous behavior, a species unlike that of a human, however magical and one with nature around them. These creatures are non-other than the faerie race or fay as some call them. These magical creatures inhabit the earth calling it their home. However, the fay have
Farther down the hall I hear voices. The general court is in session. Inside the
When entering the building it had more of a feel of the standard court room you see in the movies. The floor was made of marble and the sensation of authority, law and conformity set in. I walked into the court room, went down to the 3rd row bench and found myself a seat. The court room was decorated beautifully with the finest wood. The floor within the court room was wood as well, except for the area where the lawyers, plaintiffs and defendant sat. There were two wood tables on each side, with a microphone attached to the table. The bailiff was standing on the left side of the judge’s bench. There was also a stenographer on the computer in a small wooden desk, also located on the left side of...
At the expiration of this term, twelve of the boys were brought into court at one time, and the scene formed a striking and highly pleasing contrast with their appearance when first arraigned. The judge expressed much pleasure as well as surprise at their appearance, and remarked, that the object of law had been accomplished and expressed his cordial approval of my plan to save and reform" (Martin, 2005).