Just Thinking

When I worked in the Manhattan criminal courts with the defense lawyers last fall I witnessed some horrible things. Every day that I had to go to court I would come home and become choked up while relaying my day’s experience. I can only think of one person I witnessed out of about 15 cases that I felt deserved to spend a night in jail—incidentally she was released because although she was most likely guilty, at worst an accomplice, at best an enabler who turned a blind eye to her son’s dealing and use out of her home, she had no previous record. Unfortunately for her friend, who had been out of jail for 2 days, but could not get into her apartment the night the police came with the warrant, did have a record, quite an extensive one, and although in this situation she had most likely done nothing wrong, in opposition to the woman who owned the apartment who very well might have, the friend had to go back to Rikers for 5 more days until the case was brought back in because it didn’t look good. However, the real reason I bring my experience there up is because I wanted to relay one of the most sad situations I saw, a homeless man who had been picked up for panhandling to close to an ATM. There is a statute in New York City that states if a person is begging within a certain amount of feet of an ATM ( I think it’s 10 feet) they can be arrested, however this statute specifically excludes grocery store ATMs. This man had been picked up outside a grocery store, so his arrest was persay against the law, because he had not violated the statute. Upon being brought to the bench a rapid lingo commenced between his defense attorney, who had a stack about 8 inches high of other cases, and the prosecution whereupon both parties quickly discovered the man was wrongly brought in, and the judge just as expediently dismissed the charges. The defense lawyer moved this man’s file to the bottom of the stack and opened the top file to move on to the next case. The man was staring at all of them, lost and confused and unsure of what just happened. He had spent at least one night in jail, if not more, was treated as an offender, sat in a holding pen with literally at least 10 other people, (I’ve seen them, not nice), and now, after a flurry of conversation, not only not directed at him, but also hard to understand, even as a law student, he is abruptly dismissed; free to go. He hesitated before starting to shuffle away, bowing at the defense attorney thanking her; she was looking past him to her next client approaching the bench. The court marshal shouts at him, “Go! You are dismissed!” The man bows a few more times and says thank you and after looking back over his shoulder at least 8 times walks through the gate to the pews where the family members of other detained people are sitting waiting for their loved ones case. It is fall, I don’t recall what month but it is getting colder. This man, after standing and watching the next case, slinks into a pew and sits and watches the rest of the morning session until lunch. He has no where to go, and it is warm here. I know it is not nice to pity anyone, and it is hard to fully empathize when you have a home to go to, and always have. But the whole morning I had trouble looking in his direction because it was sad. Who is he, who was he, and why is he homeless? It was shocking for me to see the defense attorney dismiss him so abruptly, but you can’t blame her; she didn’t have a choice, and he didn’t need her help.

I read this opinion piece today in the times “Is it now a crime to be poor?” It is interesting. If you have time take a look. Weather you agree or disagree…its an interesting article.