It should be more like the "the Crawl of Justice". I recently was chosen by the University of Wisconsin Police Department to be judged as to whether I am a criminal. I ran afoul of the law, during the course of an otherwise stellar Thursday night, and now have to go through the system of handling this minor non-violent incident in the hopes that I can keep my criminal record "clean".
The best apporpriation of our justice system in America today is the word, system. It is an outrageous bore for most involved that consists of 90% waiting, 5% anticipation and 5% of either jubilation or despair. I, for one, hate the waiting game.
Crimes vary in an astounding degree and punishment. I showed up for a court appearance last week. The time I was scheduled to appear was ten o'clock. I strolled in a few minutes early and scanned the people around me. I saw no less than eight men dressed in colorful clothing that one might refer to as "thugs". The rest of the mix consisted of teenage girls (people still shoplift from ShopKo?), homeless degenerates, two bikers with long silver manes and a young guy wearing khakis and an oxford sweater that just happend to be me. I think this, along with jail, was one of the few situations in which I felt a terrible sense of not belonging to the herd in any way, shape or form. But the law shows no discrimination when it comes to handling your case. Just a bit slower than the guy who was arrested before you.
I overheard quite a selection of infractions to the State of Wisconsin's legal code and came to the conclusion that a lot of crimes sound like no big deal but carry heavy penalties. A particularly grotesque elderly couple, wearing matching Packer jackets that looked as if they were rummaged from the dumpster behind A8 China, were charged with the joint theft of a gentleman's coat from a Wal-Mart. They are facing a fine of no more than $5000 and up to 14 months in a correctional facility.
Finally, after nearly two hours, my full name is called and I handle my exchange with judge as quickly and respectfully as I can. So when can I expect to be back in at the courthouse? They said they'd let me know in 4-6 weeks. Getting bad news is rough enough but when someone is intent on "surprising" you with bad news I get nauseous. But what can I do? In the face of the law, I can't front.
4 comments:
There are many aspects to our court system that may be well intentioned, but aren't necessarily used in the intended ways. Believe me, if anyone is sympathetic about the how lethargic the courts can be, it is me. The custody battle over my brother has been going on since August and I just found out that I have to testify against my mom on June 9th. Like you, I'm just ready for all this shit to be over.
Oh and I hope we didn't offend or embarrass you any way in class on Monday. We really do enjoy your blog and your willingness to talk about real things that most people would avoid discussing with a classroom of strangers.
Yo, I know what you mean about the courthouse. I got a ticket for unregistered license and i had to sit and wait for people to plead their case. I can't believe they let other people sit in on some of that stuff.
First of all, sorry you had to go court. It can definitely be a long and stressful process that can leave a bad taste in your mouth long after the hearings are over.
In regard to how you described the other people at the courthouse though, I found some of your comments distasteful. Some of the stereotypes you used could be seen as racist or classist. For instance, just because a person is (or appears to be) homeless, does not mean they're a "degenerate" by any means.
And the term "thug" should be used with caution as well. Although popular culture has turned the term on its head fairly recently, it still carries a strong negative racial connotation that we should be aware of (similar to how the term "ghetto" is used today).
I doubt your intention in writing this post was to offend me or anyone else, but it's important to be aware of the easy stereotypes we use to label those around us. Because after awhile, we may begin to internalize some of these often misguided stereotypes, which is a scary thought.
Don't mean to front, just talkin.
That's definately not frontin'! Sorry, I shouldn't joke. I just realized that I haven't seen you in class in a while and this was your last post. I hope everything is cool.
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