Word: courtroom
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Some Nicaraguans, however, remained preoccupied with the fate of Hasenfus. People who lingered outside the sweltering courtroom during the trial demonstrated surprising sympathy for the somber American and his shy wife Sally. Sandinista officials also showed concern. "Eugene Hasenfus is not responsible for the American policy," said a high-ranking Sandinista. "It is in our interest to concentrate more on issues and less on the individual. He is not a cause but a symptom...
...work on daytime TV's increasingly crowded courtroom calendar. Amid the games and soaps, no fewer than four syndicated shows now offer entertainment in the form of real or simulated law cases. The TV docket began filling up in 1981 with the debut of The People's Court, whose innovative concept was to show actual small-claims cases being argued on camera. Participants agree to dismiss their cases in real court and abide by the decision of the TV judge; in return, the show agrees to pay the financial settlement. (If none is awarded, the participants divide $500; thus...
Because of the incoherence of the plaintiffs' claims, the only possible evidence for their sincerity was the determination the fundamentalist parents showed pleading their case in the courtroom. This boiled down to the determination shown by representatives like parent Vicki Frost, who stood at the witness stand for hours on end detailing a hodge-podge laundry list, citing textbook examples of everything from scientific explanations of tidal waves to witchcraft and astrology to pacifism and situational ethics...
...societal context, not the character of a court proceeding, that should be the measure of a case. But in this case the court merely judged how well the fundamentalists did on stage. The textbook case reduced the trial to a ritual. There is always an aspect of performance to courtroom proceedings, but in this extreme case the performance lost touch with the issues at hand...
...done for the dollar mainly." Would he do it again? "If somebody asked me to, I'd ask him if he had all his marbles." Does he feel he is paying for the "sins" of the U.S. ? "Amen. Amen." Surprisingly, many of the Nicaraguans who lingered outside the courtroom seemed sympathetic toward the hapless American. Said one ; schoolteacher, who waited to catch a glimpse of Hasenfus and his wife Sally: "This is not their place. They should go home." The message, if not the tone, was one that the Sandinista leaders could appreciate...