The courtroom had seen hundreds of cases like this before, yet something about that day felt different. The lights were bright, the air sterile, and everything looked exactly as it should inside a modern courthouse. Still, unease lingered. The kind ...

The courtroom did not feel dramatic at first. There were no raised voices, no sudden movements, no gasps from the audience. It looked like any other weekday proceeding inside a modern American courthouse—bright fluorescent lights, pale walls, polished wood benches, ...