My Day in Court
Last month I had the amazing opportunity to go to the Fairfax County Courthouse to observe a sentencing docket and speak with an amazing assistant attorney from the Fairfax Commonwealth Attorney’s Office. A sentencing docket is usually dull because the judge simply sets the defendant’s punishment after they have either plead guilty or been found guilty in a trial. Although I was prepared to be bored, this visit was priceless because I was able to see the impact the criminal justice system has on people. Furthermore, I realized that most civil servants recognize this impact, and subsequently act with respect and empathy to ensure justice.
At 9:00 a.m., people were already streaming in and out of the courthouse, each of them determined to conduct their business. Most were attorneys, who seemed focused on representing their clients to the best of their abilities. Others were regular individuals, either responding to court summons, getting married, or supporting loved ones. The courthouse is open to the public, and it is used for a variety of purposes. So, although the criminal justice system is largely forgotten and avoided at all costs, I recommend visiting a courthouse to truly understand how it works. The fact of the matter is there are many people that still exist in and around the system that are just like you and me.
After getting through security, we went straight to the Fairfax Commonwealth Attorney’s Office, which I did not know was in the courthouse. The office has a large team of attorneys, paralegals, and other staff that make the elected Commonwealth Attorney’s job and vision possible. The assistant commonwealth attorneys handle many cases from minor crimes, like traffic violations, to serious crimes, like homicide. The paralegals help with recording and filing case information. The other administrative staff, such as desk attendants, help guests, pull records, and even keep track of attorneys’ whereabouts within the large courthouse.
For me, the magic really started once I walked into the courtroom. The benches were occupied by defendants, their defense attorneys, and concerned family members and friends. The sentencing docket for that morning consisted of 8 cases that lasted a little over an hour. Everyone in the courtroom knew their role, spoke quickly and clearly, and followed the rules. Everything was very deliberate. Everyone had representation and an interpreter was even provided upon request in one instance. This representation and assistance are very valuable because the defendants must deal with legal jargon and a myriad of laws that fly around at the speed of light in the courtroom and are nearly impossible to understand.
Even the judge and lawyers got confused by new statutes recently introduced by the Virginia General Assembly. These new statutes meant that there was more room for debate in a process that is usually considered boring. In one case, there was an issue of whether the defendant had violated the terms of his probation. The prosecutor conducted direct examinations of witnesses and the public defender cross-examined them. Through it all, the public defender was doing everything in their power to help the defendant. And although the judge ultimately found the defendant guilty of violating probation, the judge respectfully considered both party’s viewpoints. That is a good representation of the criminal justice system working towards justice, and civil servants recognizing the human toll of the process.
In another case, the prosecutor advocated for the defendant. Both the prosecutor and the public defender recognized the defendant’s violation, but surprisingly, they both agreed that severe punishment was unnecessary. Given the defendant’s extenuating circumstances and tremendous improvement in their current program, they agreed on a common outcome, no violation. That was encouraging to see because it is contrary to the idea that prosecutors and defense attorneys are always competing to win. Instead, the attorneys’ actions showed they were concerned with the right outcome, justice.
Despite the obvious respect and empathy, I was still shaken by the fact that some defendants were either coming to the courtroom from incarceration or being arrested and handcuffed right after sentencing. Outside of television shows and movies, I had never seen handcuffs, let alone people being arrested. So, I could not help but stiffen up every time someone’s arms were ratcheted into an unnatural position with their hands fastened together behind them. On top of breaking the law and dealing with the myriad of consequences, their bodies were, at that moment, no longer under their control. The state constricted their movement and controlled their bodies.
Furthermore, I recognized the tremendous effort it takes for defendants to comply with a sentence. For some defendants, obstacles around work, transportation, and COVID-19 played a role in their ability to successfully complete probation or parole. In one case, even after a defendant had seemingly complied with the rules of their probation, and expressed remorse, they were still sentenced to six months in jail.
That is six months without sleeping in your own bed. Six months without home-cooked meals. Six months without your own clothes. Six months without freedom. Six months without family and friends by your side. Six months being monitored, constricted, and controlled. And it is all taken away after a long, confusing process that ends with a judge’s brief ruling.
That is scary.
We must not forget the criminal justice system is a big, extremely complex system with a very real human cost. Therefore, we must ensure that the criminal justice system, along with its large cast of actors, fulfills its tasks with respect and empathy for the people involved.