Experiencing A Court System

During the past month I have been to a few different court proceedings. One was for civil reasons and then the other two were arraignments and sentencing. Each time when I went in to the court room I felt really out of place. I was sitting amongst all of the people that were there for having done something illegal. It was nice to see the security guards all around the court room though. When they were there they seemed to control the actions of the people sitting amongst me. It was almost like all of these adults sitting in the courtroom were children in a classroom. I can't imagine how lawyers and other people in the criminal justice system deal with those types of attitudes day in and day out. It honestly amazed me just how stereotypical it was in there.

The court that I went to was the New Haven G.A.6. I was in the Superior Court A. Also, the civil proceeding I attended was across the street and on an upper floor in a smaller court room.

When the judge called each person up to the stand I was surprised just how quick he went through it. He repeated each person's rights to them and either gave them a sentencing or gave them a date of which they were to return to court. Some of the people came up and already had a public defender appointed to them, and yet some didn't. If they did not, the judge would ask them if they wanted to get a public defender or if they were going to hire a private attorney. Most chose the public defender, while a few chose to get a private attorney. Then the judge would ask them how long they needed in order to get an attorney, but usually the judge granted them three weeks.

When it came to the people that were being sentenced, all that I really saw happen was that the judge told them what the maximum penalty could be for such a crime and then he basically just gave them community service and instructions to go to a rehabilitation program.

Now I know it is too expensive for the state or the country to imprison all of the criminals but, I honestly don't have too much faith in the rehabilitation programs. I mean if I was a criminal and I was told to go to the rehabilitation program to "do my time" for what I did, I'd go and then would it really prevent me from doing what I use to do? I don't see how that really changes people. I don't think it can.

So far, taking this class has helped me to better understand the legal system. However, I am still a little confused on some things but over all my understanding is a lot better. I know that if I had gone into court at the beginning of this semester I would have been extremely dumbfounded, but now I at least understand what is going on when I observe a court proceeding.

When the judge would read the rights I understood them even more then I would have a few months ago. I know how they came about and what the main reasons for them are. I understand why it is important for all people to have the same rights at the beginning, and then if it is fair they can lose their rights due to the criminal acts that they have committed.

Yes, I believe all of the proceedings were fair. Each person was read his or her rights and from my understanding every rule was followed in the process of the court system. To me, it seemed as if the public defenders did