The courtroom did not feel unusual at first.
People sat in the courtroom the way they always did. The defendant was standing at the table. He was wearing a jail uniform. His hands were together. His eyes were moving back and forth between the floor and the judges bench. The lawyer who was with the defendant had a file in his hand. The papers in the file were a bent because they had been handled a lot. There were officers standing behind the defendant. They were still and watching everything. The people in the gallery were being quiet. Some of them were quiet because they were used to being in court. Others were quiet because they were curious, about the defendant and what was going on.
Nothing really looked dramatic to me.
That is why nobody expected what happened next.
The judge came into the room sat down behind the bench and looked at the papers in front of him. This was something that everyone, in the room had seen times before. The judge made a notes on the paper. He read a lines to himself. You could hear the sound of his pen moving across the paper. The room was quiet. Everyone was waiting for the judge to say something. The judge and the paperwork were the center of attention. The room waited for the judge to finish with the paperwork.
The judge finally said something and his voice was really calm. He sounded almost tired.
He did not accuse anyone. He did not raise his voice. He just started reading from the reports that people had already sent in like jail records and notes about behavior and other regular documents that usually do not get attention. The reports he was reading from were the ones that had already been submitted things, like jail records and conduct notes and routine documents.
This time the things that happened really mattered. The things that happened were important.
The judge stopped what he was doing. Looked up.
The reports talked about the problems over and over. The person was refusing to eat their meals. They were getting into fights with people. This person was also being very disruptive inside the jail. It was not really surprising to hear these things. It was enough to change what happened next in the hearing. The reports of these problems were really about the issues. Refusing meals getting into fights and disruptive behavior inside the jail and that is what changed the direction of the hearing about the person and their behavior including the refusing meals and the fights and the disruptive behavior, inside the jail.
The defendant shifted his weight. He was standing in the courtroom. He looked really nervous. The defendant did not say a word. He just shifted his weight from one foot to the other. The defendant was waiting for the judge to say something.
At first he did not say a thing. Then he started talking without thinking it through. He spoke in a voice, not too loud and not in a mean way. He just said a bunch of words really fast to defend himself before the moment was gone. The words were defensive. He said them in a rush trying to explain what the situation with him was like before it was too late and the moment slipped away from him and the situation, with him.
The man said that he did not start the fights. He claimed that the fights were not his fault. The man said that he did not start the fights someone else did.
The man said that the food was not good to eat. He thought the food was really bad. The food was not edible that is what he said.
The man said that he was not doing anything.
The words came out of my mouth fast. They came out faster than they normally do. The words just kept coming out.
The lawyer did not interrupt. He did not correct the man. The lawyer just stood there his eyes looking ahead and he already had a feeling, about where this conversation was going.
The judge stopped writing.
That small action really changed the room. The room was different because of that action.
There was a pause. It was longer than usual. It was not uncomfortable. It felt serious. This kind of pause makes people stop what they are doing without thinking about it. The defendant stopped talking. Someone in the gallery leaned back a bit. Another person looked down at their hands. The moment in the room had changed. The pause, in the room was heavy. The defendant had realized late that the moment had shifted to something different.
The judge looked up again. He was looking at the people, in the room. The judge looked up again to see what was going on. The judge wanted to know what people were doing. The judge looked up again. Saw everyone staring at him.
This time his face looked different. He was not angry like people usually get angry you know where they yell and their face turns red. He just had this firm. Closed off look on his face the kind of look that people get when they are completely done waiting for something to happen. His patience had finally reached its limit. You could see it in the way he looked in the expression, on his face on the face of this person.
The man spoke slowly.
Not to punish.
Not to lecture.
But to draw a line.
The man said the court could not go on like this. The way people behave is important. You have to respect the process. It is not something you can choose to do or not do. His voice was steady and calm. He spoke very softly. Which made what he said feel even more definite. The court process is what matters and people need to respect that. The mans voice was even. Controlled the whole time.
The man stopped what he was doing. He just stopped.
Nothing happened after that. No warning followed.
No second explanation.
The judge pushed his chair back. He did this slowly. The judge was getting ready to stand up. The judge wanted to make a point. The judge was going to say something, about the case.
The sound was not loud. It echoed in that really quiet room. It was the sound of wood scraping against the floor. This simple sound now meant something. The judge got up from his seat fixed his robe. Then he turned and walked away, from the bench without even looking back at the defendant. The judge just kept walking.
That was it.
The hearing was over.
Not postponed politely.
Not adjourned with ceremony.
Ended.
For a moment nobody moved.
The defendant just stood there staring ahead and all of a sudden he did not seem so confident anymore. This was not what the defendant had thought was going to happen. The defendants shoulders fell a bit. The defendants jaw got really tight. The defendant looked down. The defendant knew that the defendant had already missed the chance to say something. Or to say nothing at all.
The lawyer closed the file slowly. The lawyer took his time to close the file. The lawyer made sure the file was closed. The lawyer closed the lawyers file slowly.
The man did not say anything. There was really nothing left for him to say about the situation, with the people involved the man and the people. The man and the people had already talked about everything.
In the gallery people stayed in their seats they did not know if they should get up leave the room or wait for something to happen. Some people looked over at the bench where the defendant usually sat. Others did not want to look at the defendant all. The room felt weird like something was not finished it felt like a sentence that got cut off in the middle. The gallery was a place to be the defendant was the center of attention people were waiting to see what would happen to the defendant.
And that was the point.
Courts are not places where people get emotional.. They are definitely places where humans are involved. Judges do not usually walk out of the room. When judges do walk out it is not something they do to show off. It is actually a way for judges to set a limit, for the Courts. The Courts need this boundary.
The message was really clear. It did not need to be said again.
If the process is not followed then the process will come to a stop. The process needs to be respected in order for the process to keep going.
On people are going to talk about the thing that happened. They will remember it. Discuss it with each other. The event will be on peoples minds, for a time and people will talk about the event.
People will ask if the defendant made things harder for the defendant. Did the judge get too upset? Would things have turned out differently if the defendant had just kept quiet?. Those are questions for another time when you are not, in the courtroom. The defendant and what the defendant did is what matters now.
The lesson was already being taught inside that room.
Justice does not always come with a lot of noise. Sometimes it is very quiet. Like when someone pushes their chair back and gets up. A judge might decide to get up and leave instead of arguing about something. Justice can be like that it can come when people are being quiet like when a judge chooses to leave the room than say anything more, about the Justice they are trying to serve.
In that moment something important became clear, to everyone. The silence was saying something. Everyone understood what the silence was saying. It was a moment when the silence meant something to everyone and everyone felt it.
Court isn’t just about rules or outcomes.
This is about the conduct. The conduct is what this is, about. We are talking about the conduct.
And once that line is crossed, the courtroom doesn’t bend to pull anyone back.It simply waits empty, quiet, and unmoved.