Courthouse Paper
There was a plethora of things running through my head as I parked and walked up to the courthouse on Tuesday October 11th such as, was there going to be fancy lawyers and scary criminals? Am I going to be the only one watching if there is not a jury? Am I going to stand out? All of these questions going through my head were making me uneasy but I first became nervous and intimated as I approached the (way bigger than expected) building. I was expecting there to be someone right as I walked in, like a secretary, checking people in and telling them where to go. As I looked around my nervousness continued as I had no clue where to go or what to do, but luckily I knew my court room and floor number before I went so I was able
…show more content…
I sat outside the courtroom and observed the lawyers as they talked to their clients. I was very surprised to see them talking in the open where anyone is able to hear or see what they are doing. I expected it to be more of a quiet and private place. A police officer guarding an unlocked courtroom was kind enough to answer some of my questions about where to go and what to do and about what was going on. I began to feel more at ease and a little less out of place.
I sat through a couple different cases which were a plea hearing, conciliation and a criminal case that had a jury. I got there around 8:20 and left around 10:30 and in that short amount of time learned and observed many things. I listed to two different judges ___ and ____and the second judge I saw ____ surprised me because before the criminal case began and before the jury came in, he came to the benches and kindly asked us to sit in the back row to make room for the jury. He also asked that we don’t talk and if we must leave, exit during a break to not cause any commotion. It took me back that he was so kind and took the time to come up to us and tell us what he expected and what was going on, I assume he figured we had not been to a court case before. I think this was
This event overall was very quality. They loaded the auditorium with people as a judge sat on the top of the stage. They escorted in a :criminal” in. Later we would learn he was a drunk driver. He had killed an innocent teen, and injured two others. The girls parents are testifying against him for the murder of their daughter.
A dangerous silence envelopes the dark, drab courtroom. It is only punctuated with the hiss of an indecisive fluorescent lamp that seems to flirt with the idea of extinguishing itself completely. The lamp’s dim spectrum illuminates the pallid face of the plaintiff. His bespectacled eyes peer upwards from horn-rimmed glasses. Abruptly, a gruff voice pierces the quiet. It is a voice that wears impressive yet insipid suits. It is a voice that drinks black coffee and smokes generic cigarettes. When it speaks, it asks:
Shelton, Hon. Donald E., Gregg Barak, and Kim S. Young. “A Study of Juror Expectations and
Steve Bogira, a prizewinning writer, spent a year observing Chicago's Cook County Criminal Courthouse. The author focuses on two main issues, the death penalty and innocent defendants who are getting convicted by the pressure of plea bargains, which will be the focus of this review. The book tells many different stories that are told by defendants, prosecutors, a judge, clerks, and jurors; all the people who are being affected and contributing to the miscarriage of justice in today’s courtrooms.
I attended the Bail court on Monday, February 22 at the Ontario Court of Justice in Scarborough. After some searching, I found the court assignment sheet posted outside a clerk's office. It had listed each courtroom number and what they were assigned to hold. Courtroom 412 was bail, courtroom 406 was guilty pleas, and 407 was first appearance. When I approached courtroom 412, I saw the crown counsel have a brief conversation with a colleague. They were critical of the Judge being late – the court was scheduled to reconvene at 2pm. She sarcastically stated that 'he must need a longer lunch b...
All jurors in this particular case participated and took an active role, yet J1, J4, J7, J8, J12 were the most vocal. J1, J4, J7, and J8 had very strong personalities and naturally appeared to want to be active in the deliberations. J2 appeared to have a strong personality as well, but soon made their mind up about the situation. J1 and J7 as will be discussed later on appear to be the most similar and often support and defend each other throughout the jury deliberation. J12 was active merely because she had to out of self-defense. J12 was the only juror that did not agree with the majority’s conclusions about Ducic and constantly had to defend herself and provide rebuttals with little support from the other jurors. Nevertheless, it appears jurors with strong opinions on the case participate more in the ...
Throughout the years there has been limitless legal cases presented to the court systems. All cases are not the same. Some cases vary from decisions that are made by a single judge, while other cases decisions are made by a jury. As cases are presented they typically start off as disputes, misunderstandings, or failure to comply among other things. It is possible to settle some cases outside of the courts, but that does require understanding and cooperation by all parties involved. However, for those that are not so willing to settle out of court, they eventually visit the court system. The court system is not in existence to cause humiliation for anyone, but more so to offer a helping hand from a legal prospective. At the same time, the legal system is not to be abuse. or misused either.
The media plays a big role in shaping the people’s perceptions about the court system. Without media we would remain uneducated to the occurrences outside our social groups. Media and especially news coverage provide us with important point of contact with the rest of society. In debunking popular myths about our court system we will look at the “facts” (the truth, the actual event, a real thing). With a myth being based upon “exaggeration” or heightening of “ordinary” event in life. Myths become a convenient mortar to fill gaps in knowledge and to provide answers to questions social science either cannot answer or has failed to address. Myths tend to provide the necessary information for the construction
Today juries are much more diverse. Men, women, and people from diverse backgrounds are called to jury duty. Although the origin of the jury system is not clear, history has shown that William the Conqueror from Normandy introduced a similar system to England around 1066 CE (Judiciary of Vermont 1). After the American Revolutionary War, the jury system became the American ideal of justice. This essay will explore the history of the American jury system and illustrate how it has evolved over the course of the American history.
For my research paper I decided to observe at the North Justice Center in Fullerton, CA for the morning session. My goal entering there was to watch the process of a criminal trial since I felt that would be the most interesting and would allow me the opportunity to witness all the working parts of our justice system in action. While waiting for the criminal trial to open its doors and start, I managed to come across a post- arraignment court, where I was able to watch a different side of our criminal justice system. This is the side that enforces the punishment and makes sure that restitution is paid for whatever crime was committed. By far the most interesting thing I took from this experience was the differences in how the judges conducted themselves in their courtrooms and the amount of discretion that they were allowed to use. For this paper I will be going over what I observed in both the post-arraignment court and the criminal trial and analyze my findings in a sociological context.
The federal government consist of three branches for each one has a specific role that protects and serves each person in the United States. The Constitution established these branches to enhance a stronger federal government as well as to make sure the states worked as one instead as individuals. The method in which it is used goes by Judicial, Legislative, and Executive, these branches go from creating the laws, to implementing laws, to finally interpreting the law. It became known as checks and balances, so that no branch would over power another. Once creating these boundaries, the government became more unified and therefore able to control the country much more formally through the courts. To see the beginning of the never ending, the
As a police officer, I have been to countless court cases and I already knew what to expect from all that were involved. Being in the galley as an observer is entirely different than
videotaping of a real life jury as seen in a small criminal courtroom. The case
Some people say that by watching the court system in action, what once was very unknown and unfamiliar, has now become familiar and useful in helping people become more knowledgeable of what happens inside courtrooms. Most people have not been in a courtrooms and only have the perspective that T.V. gives to them. Now they are able to see what really goes on and now can better understand and relate.
Farther down the hall I hear voices. The general court is in session. Inside the