A Day In Court

Today I went to court.

I am in a multicultural education class here at BYU, and one of our assignments was to have an experience in the community that was different from our normal social experiences. One of the options was to attend a court session, and when my first choice option fell through, I decided that would be the best thing for me. Also, I was really curious about what goes on in court.

We showed up when the court house opened, but it turned out to be thirty minutes before the court session actually started. I was a little nervous because I didn't know all of the rules of where to go or how to act, but it turned out that they make it easy for people like me to know where to go. I waited in the hallway for a while to be let in, and watched the other people that were going to court that day. I was curious about their crimes and fate. There was a large variety of people from an old conservative looking couple, to young girls in tight dresses, to men with tattoos who smelled like smoke, to middle aged ladies in mormon-mom dresses. Then they let us in the court room.

At the front of the court room, off to the side in what looked to be what I would call the jury box, was a group of inmates in their jumpsuits. They had chains around their feet, hands, and waists. They clinked loudly when they moved or walked.

At first, it was really boring because a lot of attorneys were doing the technical part of the court procedure, delaying court days, getting the right paperwork, etc. They were representing people who looked cold and hard to me, galaxies away from my lifestyle. People went up when they were ready, including people from the benches near us, mixed in between the inmates. 

But then a man who looked to be in his late twenties stood up to take his turn from the back of the room. I had noticed him before in the hallway when we were waiting to be let in. He was wearing a badly fitting suit with a t-shirt underneath, and his hair was slicked back. He was thin with dark, curly hair, and looked very somber and reflective. He even looked nice. I noticed he gave his mom his wallet and car keys before they went in the court room and talked about someone picking up his car for him.

As he stood with his attorney, who was a small, older looking man, the judge mentioned that he was being charged with eight counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. It surprised me that this harmless looking man was here for such a horrific crime. It was clear that today was the day that they would sentence this man. His attorney began explaining his story. The attorney explained that this man had been involved in child pornography. But the story began a long time before that. 

This man’s father had never been a part of his life, so he was raised just by his mother. His struggle with pornography could be traced back clear to when he was a child and people near to him sexually abused him and exposed him to pornography through the years. He had struggled with other addictions including alcohol. His use of pornography was a real addiction that he would struggle with all of his life. When the police came to arrest him as part of a sting, he hadn't resisted or denied it. He accepted his fate. He had been very cooperative in the whole process.

The judge asked if the man had anything he wanted to say. In tears, he explained how he had never thought that what he was doing was right. It was an addiction, and he had needed help, but was ashamed and didn't know where to go, so he hid it and tried to run away from it. It always found its way back into his life. Since his arrest, he had been working to make things right. He began therapy, and was medicated for OCD, which had previously led to compulsive use of pornography. He was in college and had a fiance and a good job. His counselor had helped him recognize that there were victims of his addiction, even though it was easy to just view them as images. He helped him feel empathy for the children by connecting their feelings to how he felt as a child. As he explained how horrible he felt for the children, he wept.

His attorney and councilor plead for a minimum sentence because of the remorse this man had and the improvement he was showing. The prosecution agreed that he was doing well, but still emphasized the seriousness of the crime. The judge took time to give advice and most of all to emphasize that there is a victim to his crime, and that he was buying into a market that had a horrible cost. In the end he was given jail time, but only a few years, and no prison time. He will be on the sex offenders’ registry for the rest of his life. He can’t be alone with females younger than 18. He will be on parole for three years after he gets out of jail.

The attorney asked for a few days for him to say goodbye to his family. The judge said he had had long enough, and that he would be taken into custody now. He was allowed to say goodbye to his mother before he left. It was clear that they were very close. He came and hugged her right in front of me. As he cried and apologized to her for putting her through all of this, I started to cry. It really touched me. I felt sympathy for a user of child pornography, which is an emotion I thought I would never feel.

What an interesting experience. I stayed a little longer, but none of the other cases were that long or detailed. I left, feeling so sad for that man and what the next few years held for him. I feel myself cheering for him. It is amazing how much harder it is to dislike someone you don't know from close up. What an interesting, life-changing experience.