Greener grass

Family Justice Center (2)

My experiences in court today inspire me to tell you all:  The grass is definitely greener on the other sign of the courthouse door.

I admire the assemblage of professionals with whom I shared counsel table today, from the young attorney for the Juvenile Officer (a softer phrase than ‘prosecutor’) to the tough-outside-tender-inside guardian ad litem for my fifteen-year-old client’s seven-month old son.  Five attorneys recommended disposition regarding an adult mother, her three children including my client, and my client’s baby.  We bobbed up and down so much, the very experienced judge suggested we looked like bidders at a Moroccan market.

When I started practicing law, the type of case in which the state takes jurisdiction over children who have been abused or neglected took place in “Juvenile Court”, and offenders under the age of 18 were housed in the “Juvenile Detention Center”.  At some point a decade or so ago, someone got the bright idea to change the names to “Family Court” and “the Family Detention Center”.   I’ve often pointed out that it might help if we actually did detain the family but we do not, in fact, do so.

I took this picture from my car window after this morning’s hearing.  As I paused and aimed my cell phone, an unusually polite driver sat behind me in a red SUV, gazing at the process without so much as a tiny tap of his horn.  You might say: I kept him waiting, but he did not complain.

As I drove away, rounding two corners to guide myself in the correct direction down one-way streets back to my office, I reflected on my great good fortune in never having been a litigant in juvenile court, either because of my dereliction or the misdeeds of my child.  Many circumstances in my life pose challenges at present; but I am one of the lucky ones living in the  fertile fields on the easy side of the courthouse door.  Though at times those fields dip and rocks lurk in the underbrush, nevertheless, I can pick my way through life secure in the knowledge that what I’ve got can be handled without the aid of those valiant professionals within the hollow, hallowed halls of family justice.

 

One thought on “Greener grass

  1. Cindy Cieplik

    I agree Corinne. I too have the same gratitude. Very well stated. I love “the easy side of the courthouse door.” Actually got an image of walking through dewy green grass! 🙂

    Reply

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