Roughly forty thousand cases are heard here each year, an average of 153 a day. The rush of humanity is staggering. The central bond court, room 101, begins proceedings at one o’clock every afternoon, and it is so backed up with the newly arrested that defendants now appear on video from lockup in the basement. Court officials say that bringing all of them into the courtroom would pose insurmountable security problems, so friends and family members, often with young children, sit on the hard-backed benches and watch their loved ones appear on televisions hanging from the ceiling. The judge goes through the defendant’s past record, then sets a bond. It usually takes a minute, maybe two. One attorney commented, “You can’t help but be overwhelmed by the speed with which things happen here.”But for some the wheels of justice turn a little more quickly than for others. Carved into the building’s stone exterior is a single word, VERITAS, and indeed while the truth more often than not eventually comes to light, it is not necessarily pursued with equal vigor in every case.
What do You think about Never A City So Real (2004)?
