Reflective Essay: The Conversation In The Courtroom

Many people were waiting outside the Court House that cold Tuesday morning. It must have been few minutes before nine o’clock in the morning, few seats were filled, and the rest were standing up outside the glass door waiting for the doors to open. You could tell from the tension that many had serious business to attend too. It is impressive how easy you could distinguish between the lawyers and the public. I found an empty spot to stand on and luckily it was next to two lawyers that seem to have something to conversate about. I reach my spot and hoping I would find something in their conversation that would educate me on what to expect inside the courtroom, but unfortunately, the topic of their conversation was sports which many men seem to find interesting even in a Court House. Thankfully their conversation was interrupted by the Sheriff that opened the door and invited everyone in.

You could see the odd one alone trying to make eye contact, the young people accompanied by an adult and those in coveralls heading back to work after their court session. Two Sheriffs were walking around on a mission, I wasn’t sure if it’s a routine or there was a high-profile case that they were maybe focused on. One of the guys in coveralls was stopped and asked to show what was in his pocket by the Sheriff, at first I thought, why him, could it be because he was speaking in a foreign language with another young man or because he looked like a labourer in his dirty coveralls or maybe because he was acting sketchy and not sitting still. When the item in his pocket turned out to be a hunting knife I was glad she did ask and confiscate the knife. After all, according to the Justice Institute of British Columbia’s website, “Deputy Sheriffs are provincial peace officers who work closely with different partners in the Justice System to ensure all levels of courts in the province are operating smoothly and safely” (par.