The courtroom felt lighter than it normally does for a moment.
It was not loud. It was not relaxed.. There was a change. A small one that only people who spend a lot of time in court would see. The judge was sitting behind the bench looking through a file and a small smile came on his face. It was, like something a funny had just occurred to him. There was nothing happening. It was a normal moment when you see someone being human. The judge was having a moment.
This is the kind of thing that reminds everyone that judges are people too. Judges are, like everyone else they have feelings and emotions and the kind of thing that reminds everyone of this is really important. The kind that reminds everyone that judges are people too is something that we should all think about.
The room was really quiet. Peoples shoulders relaxed. Some people in the gallery leaned back a bit. The room had a calm feeling. Even when people are nervous there are kinds of nervous. This felt like an amount of tension. The tension, in the room was not very high.
Then someone spoke.
Not the lawyer.
Not the clerk.
The voice came from off to the side it was the defendant and it really did not seem to fit in that moment. The defendants voice was, out of place.
The words were not just bad. They were rude. The comment was the kind that does not talk about the facts. Questions the people, in the room. The words were not yelled loudly. The comment was worse because it was said in a way without thinking and it was clear that the person meant to say those words. The words were dismissive. The words were disrespectful.
The judges smile was gone in a flash. The judge did not look happy anymore. The judges smile had disappeared instantly.
No gradual change. No warning expression. Just gone.
He stopped turning the pages. Looked up into the room. The room was what he was looking at now. His posture did not change much but the feeling in the room changed. The people in the gallery felt this change before they really understood what was happening. The air in the room felt tighter again. This time it felt even sharper. The people in the gallery could feel the change, in the air. The room was filled with this feeling.
“That is enough.”
The judges voice was really loud now. He was still in control. He was not screaming at anyone. He was not getting emotional. The judges voice was just very firm, in a way that made you know he would not listen to anything you had to say. The judges voice left no room for you to say something back.
The judge said “you must not talk to this court like that.”
The sentence landed hard. It really hit me. The sentence was very blunt. It landed hard on me. I felt it. The sentence landed hard. It stayed with me.
The defendant did not reply. This was not because he agreed with what was said. Because he realized that the moment to say something had already gone. When you are in court the timing of what you say is very important. If someone in charge sets a rule it is very hard to go on it. The defendant learned this the way. In a court of law timing is everything. The defendant understood that the moment to respond had passed and that was that. The person, in charge had made a decision. It was final.
The judge reached for the file. He wanted to look at the file. The judge needed to see what was in the file. The file was very important, to the judge.
It was not slammed. It was not thrown. He slid the file calmly to the side of the bench. This was a motion. The file, the one that had all the arguments and details and possibilities was no longer being considered. He had moved the file to the side. That meant something. The file was not going to be looked at.
The room knew what that meant. It was very clear, to the room what was going on. The room was aware of what that meant.
“This hearing is over.”
The judge got to his feet. Stood up. The judge was now standing.
He did not move quickly. He did not show much anger. He fixed his robe with the care that he used when he first sat down. The way he did this made things worse. When someone is really angry and they just let it all out it is easy to ignore.. When someone is really angry and they keep it inside that is not easy to ignore. The anger of this person was, like that. He was really angry. He was keeping it inside and that made it very bad.
The man. Walked away from the bench. The courtroom was really quiet after that. The people in the courtroom remained silent. They just stood there not saying a word as the man walked away, from the bench.
No gasps.
No whispers.
No movement.
The sound of his footsteps was really quiet. It was loud in my ears. When someone important, like a judge leaves the room it is a deal. When the judge walks out it does not feel like he is just leaving. It feels like the judge is closing the door on us. The judge leaving the room makes an impression.
The bench was really empty it had no one sitting on the bench all.
The defendant was not saying anything anymore. The confidence that made him speak up was gone. It went away fast. Now there was silence. This was not a silence that makes you feel bad for someone. It was the kind of silence that makes you think about what you did.
The people in the gallery stayed seated they did not know what to do. Some of them stared at the bench. Others did not look at the gallery or at anyone all. A few people in the gallery looked at each other they silently acknowledged that the gallery had just seen something that could not be changed the people, in the gallery had just witnessed something that could not be reversed the gallery had just witnessed something that would stay with the gallery forever.
The hearing did not come to an end because of the evidence that was presented. The evidence was not the reason why the hearing stopped.
It did not end because of the complexity of the situation. The legal complexity was the reason it did not end.
The thing came to an end because of disrespect. The disrespect is what made it stop. It was the disrespect that caused it to end. The situation ended because of the disrespect.
Courts are not delicate. They are exact places. Courts run on rules. Being in control. There is also an understanding that everyone, in the courtroom knows what is going on. If this understanding is broken then the court process will stop. Courts rely on this understanding and these rules to work properly. If someone breaks the rules of the court then the whole process of the court stops. The court is a place where Courts follow rules and everyone knows what to do.
The judge did not need to say what would happen if people did not do what they were supposed to do. The judge did not have to threaten the people with consequences. The judge just had to be and the people would listen to the judge. The judge was in charge. That was all that mattered. The judge did not need to say anything, about consequences.
The man did not need to explain what he was doing. He was the person who made the decision. That is all that mattered when it came to the situation, with the man. The man just did what he had to do. That was it.
The man did not need to argue.
The man took himself out of the situation. He did not want to be a part of it. The situation was not good, for him so he removed the man from it.
That decision said a lot more than any punishment. It really showed what they thought was important. That choice was very powerful. It spoke louder, than punishment ever could.
On people are going to talk about what happened in that courtroom. They will ask if the judge was too harsh. If the defendant should have been given another chance to say what they wanted to say. If the judge really had to interrupt the defendant like that. The people will wonder if the defendant deserved to be treated that way.
Those questions did not really get to the issue. The thing is, they were not asking what really mattered about the topic we were discussing which’s the main point of the conversation. The main point I mean the issue is what we should be talking about.
Courtrooms are not places where they decide what happens to you. They are places where people watch how you behave. They notice how you talk. They notice when you talk. They want to know if you understand how serious the courtroom is. Courtrooms are places and people should act that way when they are, in them.
The judge’s smile at the beginning of the hearing had been human.
The answer that came after was very official. Sounded like it was from a big organization. The response that followed was, like something you would hear from a company or a government office. It was a response.
Something happened between those two moments. That is when a line was crossed. The line was crossed between those two moments. This is very important to remember about the line being crossed.
The empty bench was still there for a while after the judge got up and left. Nobody said a word to break the silence. Nobody made a joke. Nobody just. Moved on. This was because everyone knew that something big had just happened. Something that was not, about the judges decision. The judges decision was still not the only thing that mattered the consequences of what the judge did were important too and something that would affect the people in the room the consequences of the judges actions that is what was important.
When the people in charge walk away quietly it really says something. The authority leaves calmly. That sends a clear message to everyone. The authority is showing us that they are not going to make a deal, about it.
Do not think that you are being ignored. We are here. We hear the things that you have to say about this. You are not being ignored your thoughts and feelings are important, to us. We want you to know that we value the things that you have to say.
Your services are no longer needed so you have to go. The company has decided that they do not want you to work here anymore. You are being let go which means you will not be coming back, to this job. The decision has been made and that is final so you have to leave.
And in a courtroom, that distinction matters.
When people finally got up to leave everything felt different. The happy feeling we had before was gone. Now people were thinking about what matters. You have to respect the court. It is not something you can choose to do or not do. Respect in court is not something that people will negotiate about.. When you lose respect, in court it is very hard to get it back.
The judge did not raise his voice for a time. The judge kept his voice down. That is what he did for a long time with the judge being very calm.
He did not argue.
The man did not stay.
The man just got up ended the moment there and walked away. He closed that moment. Did not look back. The man simply walked away, from the situation.
Sometimes, that is the loudest decision a courtroom can make.