Christopher DeRise
My ultimate goal in life is to become a lawyer, so personal this was by far the most interesting field trip I have ever been on. I was always curious to know what it was like to be in an actual court room, and I must say it was unbelievably tense.
At first when we arrived at the criminal court we went to a room where people were pleading not guilty or guilty, to crimes ranging from petty larceny, all the way to child abuse. Considering we have no background on these people we must ask what happened to make them do it, are they guilty, and other important questions. It was evident that the majority of the defendants were minorities. Which goes back to Butlers article of how some people should be dealt with when it comes to misdemeanor crimes.
While we were in the first room it was not only interesting to study the defendants, but their lawyers as well. One man for a majority of his time while not defending his client was just checking e-mail, and on face-book. I found this very odd considering he had a job to do, and should be using all of his time and resources to help his clients in any way.
When we went into the main courtroom upstairs, I had no idea what to expect. We saw a timid man being interviewed on the night of what we found out to later be either an attempted murder, or murder. He seemed unbelievably nervous, as he pointed the defendant sitting just twenty some odd feet away from him. This was one of the most eye opening and enjoyable field trips I have ever been on.
