Word: courtroom
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...jury, recommend the death penalty," said the foreman- and the New York City courtroom echoed with audience applause. Judge J. Irwin Shapiro, an ordinarily soft-spoken veteran of more than 20 years of criminal law, pounded his desk for order, then exploded in his own outburst against the defendant. "I don't believe in capital punishment," he cried, "but I must say I feel this may be improper when I see this monster. I wouldn't hesitate to pull the switch myself...
Lumbard. "The judge usually picks out some lawyer who happens to be in the courtroom," typically a novice just admitted to practice. "After a few minutes of conference, the defendant is advised to plead guilty, and he feels he has no choice but to do so. Everyone who participates in these proceedings knows that this is a farce...
...many ways, the traditional U.S. courtroom seems only too well designed for blind justice. Jutting into the room like an oversize Murphy bed, the judge's bench often obstructs the view of jury members so much that they cannot see exhibits that lawyers show the judge. Equally bad, the jury has only a side view of the witness stand and cannot see the fullface expressions of witnesses under questioning. The judge is even worse off: only by craning his neck can he see anything but the back of a witness' head, and he must swivel a full...
After a thorough tryout, Judge Boldt pronounced his new courtroom "greatly preferable" to the old design on a number of counts. Because the jury box and bench are far apart, he found that he could confer with attorneys off the record without having to dismiss the jury -a time-wasting maneuver in other courtrooms. He also noted a "calmness and ease" during trials because "everybody could see and hear without strain." He liked especially his more direct view of the witness stand ("I can practically take a head-on look") and his eyeline relation to the jury ("The judge...
...also been deluged with dollars (top source: doctors), now runs both the Freethought Society of America, Inc., and Other Americans, Inc., a legal-action group whose 5,000 members pay at least $1 per month to fight her court battles. Among her future targets: Government-paid military chaplains, courtroom oaths, and income tax deductions for church contributions. Other Americans already owns 80 acres in Kansas for a projected "Atheist University of the Americas...