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October 07 The fifth week in U.S.Last friday I paid a visit to the US District Court of Massachusetts in Boston which is nearby the Atlantic Ocean and therefore definitely has an amazing scene. I went there with my student card, and passed through the security check, we entered into the courthouse which had the jury trial according the court calendar.One thing I have to mention is that here, people can get the court calendar easily online, so it becomes one of the fundemental ways to keep the courthouse open to the public. We waited for the coming trial, in the back row we got a place and sat down. Suddenly, a chinese defendant that we had never expected and also never anticipated was being brought to the court whose hair was cut, hands were cuffed and was wearing green prisoner's attire. His two friends or relatives, we were not sure and thought its impolite to ask them since going to court is not a prestigious matter in China, also sat in the row with us. Therefore, we kept a distance in order to not annoy them. The first detention hearing that the basic trial topic was that his lawyer wanted to apply for bail, however, the prosecutor asked to bring more crimes against him. After about ten minutes of the hearing process among the three parties, the presiding judge deferred the attorney's motion saying that because defendant was Chinese, it was a huge case that she couldn't let him go. She wouldn't know how to get him back if he left the States. Soon, the defendant returned to prison with his hand re-cuffed. He had never looked back towards his friends or relatives in the back ,and I had never seen his face as well. Feeling a bit bored inside the courthouse, I was intending to drink a little water to ease my attention; I opened my bag and took my bottle out... "Excuse me, you can't drink here." a marshal said gently behind me. "Sorry!"I answered without any hesitation and then put my bottle back. However, I began to complain once the marshal went outside with us. "Excuse me, sir, why can the attorney and the prosecutor drink inside the court , whereas we audience can not?" "That's okay. Let's me explain to you. Judges or attorneys can't go outside. You can go out and drink coffee, drink juice or any kind of water, etc. " the marshal replied moderately, "The worry is that you may influence the jury, making them look at your behavior." "Oh,got it!Thanks for your explanation! What kind of job do you do here?"I inquired of him. "My job here, is to stop you from drinking water!"he replied. Hahahah....we both laughed. We went outside the courthouse and planned to take a walk to the beautiful bay downstairs.The moment we left the Massachusetts District Court building's back door, I saw the inscription carved on the stone: The most beautiful place doesn't belong to this court. It doesn't belong to the judges. It doesn't belong to the lawyers.It doesn't belong to the federals.It doesn't belong to the litigants.It belongs to the public. Comments (3)
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