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Reflections December 2014

Here Come De Judge

By Geno Lawrenzi, Jr.

The U.S. justice system dispenses justice as a deterrent to potential offenders and doesn't really care about individuals. The Caribbean justice system in the two-island Federation considers the individual and all the circumstances leading up to the act in order to dispense justice that is fair.

Of all the world's professions, I think one of the hardest ones has to be serving as a judge.

Think of it. You are the judge sitting in a massive hardback chair in a courtroom, listening to the incoming evidence and testimony designed to persuade you to rule one way or the other. How do you decide, and what evidence persuaded you to arrive at that decision?

Years ago while working as a reporter for the Phoenix Gazette, a daily newspaper in Phoenix, Arizona, I covered a case in federal district court where Peter McDonald, chairman of the Navajo Indian Tribe, and two co-defendants were charged with conspiracy to defraud the tribe out of millions of dollars.

When the jury came in with a not guilty verdict, I ran after defense attorney F. Lee Bailey as he left the courthouse. Bailey, who had represented the Boston Strangler, had been the lawyer of one of the acquitted defendants.

Breathlessly, I said, “Mr., Bailey, I'm a reporter with the Gazette and my newspaper goes to press in 15 minutes. I need a quote. Can you please tell me what brilliant lawyerly techniques you used to get your client acquitted?”

Lighting up a cigar, he smiled and said, “Our witnesses lied better than theirs did.”

I have been a newspaper reporter for nearly half a century. About 10 years ago, I accepted a job as editor of The Observer, an independent weekly newspaper that served the islands of St. Kitts and Nevis. Besides supervising a staff of a couple of young reporters, I edited the newspaper and did the page layout. When my reporters were on assignment, I also would leave the office to cover their beats for them.

One morning, the reporter who normally covered the Magistrate's Court was sick, so I hurried over to the court building to sit in for him. In the front row was a man who was bandaged from head to foot. His hair was singed and he had burn marks on parts of his skin the bandages did not cover.

Sitting across from the man, whose name was William, was his girlfriend, Lynnette. While William looked worried, Lynnette appeared petrified with fear as the judge pounded the gavel.

“Lynnette,” she said sternly, “you have been charged with drenching William's dreadlocks with gasoline while he lay sleeping, and then setting his hair on fire with a match. How do you plead?”

“I plead guilty,” your honor, she said as tears ran down her cheeks. “I found he was chippying around with my cousin, and I couldn't control myself.”

The judge shook her head sadly. “Lynnette, you almost killed this man. I sentence you to six months in Her Majesty's Prison.”

As she pounded the gavel maintain order, William painfully got to his feet, supporting his weight with crutches.

“Please don't send her to prison,” he said. “It was my fault. I shouldn't have cheated on her. She has two young children to care for, and if she is locked up, who will take care of them?” He glanced at the attractive woman. “I should be the one going to prison, not her.”

The judge smiled and shook her head.

“Go home, girl,” she said,” and take this crazy man with you. Good luck. Both of you are going to need it.”

I love the judge's decision. In America, no judge would have dared rule the way the Magistrate did. The U.S. justice system dispenses justice as a deterrent to potential offenders and doesn't really care about individuals. The Caribbean justice system in the two-island Federation considers the individual and all the circumstances leading up to the act in order to dispense justice that is fair.

Then there are my grandchildren, Josie, nine, and Harrison, eight. The other day, the two of them and their friend Kristen, who is 10, took our Alaskan Husky, Sadie, on a walk down to the park about three blocks from our house. Within 20 minutes they were back. Everybody was shouting at once. I calmed them down and tried to find out what had happened.

“Harrison is a brat,” Josie said loudly. Kristen nodded emphatically. Harrison protested his innocence, claiming Josie had pushed him, causing him to scrape his knee. When I found no blood or abrasions on the knee, I continued listening to their back-and-forths until I had had enough.

“Hold it,” I said sternly. “Stop and desist.” I picked up my notebook and tore out three sheets of paper.

“Write down your version of what happened,” I said, handing each of them a sheet of paper and a pen.” And don't lie.”

As they scrawled down their individual point of view, I glanced at the papers and was satisfied to see that their arguments were nearly totally illegible. Good, I thought. I wondered how my daughter, the judge, would rule on this one.

 

Geno Lawrenzi Jr. is an international journalist who has worked in many parts of the United States as well as the Caribbean on newspapers and magazines. Contact him at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

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