So like many people who aren’t entirely familiar with the courthouse system I had a certain stereotype in my head while walking in the door. That quickly went away after about two minutes in the courthouse. When first entering the Mecklenburg County Courthouse I was automatically directed towards security along with most everyone else. I expected security to be there, just wasn’t sure as to how close to the main entrance it would be. From there I proceeded to find the clerk of court to find information about the trails going on that day. Come to find out that many of the clerks are located in different places throughout the courthouse, which made it very difficult to find out useful information. Once I figured out which courtrooms were holding what type of trails I decided to sit in on three courtroom proceedings; each different from the next and showing me great insight.
The first courtroom was a magistrate courtroom and to me was very similar to a “cattle call”. When I first arrived I noticed the judge was seated at his bench with three clerks to his left and a TV screen mounted on the wall to his right. It was fairly quite in the courtroom except for the noise of multiple piles of papers being shuffled about. A few minutes later a video feed came on the TV and sound came through the speaker/microphone system. On the TV screen were prisoners in what I presumed to be a nearby jail holding area. Then in a very quick manner the judge began assigning court dates, bail amounts, and pleas front prisoners. The judge even had the privilege of informing some inmates that their case was dripped and were free to go. Surprising to me was how light hearted the judge seemed. He even cracked a couple jokes during this process. Two inmates were escorted into the courtroom for the setting of court dates and bail amounts. This was interesting because I began to wonder why some were physically there and other had to be video conferenced in.
The courtroom itself was what I had expected it to be housing a judge, clerks, attorney tables, an unused jury section, and public seating. The circulation of the courtroom was directed towards the exterior, mainly because the “bar” extended all the way across the length of the courtroom. The ceiling was pronounced downward around the judge and attorneys much like a traditional courtroom, this is turn made the courtroom feel more intimate with the lower ceilings.
The second courtroom was another magistrate courtroom, however this courtroom was different in many ways compared to the previous one. One of the major differences was there was more people. There were more lawyers, more bailiffs, more public, and Mecklenburg police officers in the jury section (the arresting officers). One of the first things that I noticed was that the judge was not at his bench; therefore I assumed court was not in session, wrong assumption. A bailiff politely asked my colleague and I too not talk. As court went about many lawyers were briskly walking around, speaking to their clients and going into private meetings wherever they could find space.
The design of this courtroom was slightly different. The circulation proceeded along a main centered axis; the “bar” was broken in the middle. There was no TV monitor, however there was a chalkboard and a mounted retractable projection screen (above a high window). The ceiling was pronounced in the same manner, however the entire ceiling was higher. The higher ceiling made the volume seem narrow and high. With the amount of people in the room, lawyers, officers, public, defendants, the space seemed to fill out quite quickly. With the amount of people and the higher volume voices and noises began to echo more and therefore was difficult to comprehend all the different activities at once.
The third courtroom was an arraignment courtroom. As I was walking in (court was already in session) I automatically saw the defendant in full shackles connecting their wrists to their ankles. This was a first for me. The emotions I felt are difficult to describe. Soon this prisoner was escorted out. I then witnessed two other proceedings of arraignment for cocaine related charges. There were not many people in this courtroom; the judge, the DA, two clerks, one/two bailiffs, defendants, their attorney and very few public visitors. Many of the public visitors were relatives of the defendant to support them. The courtroom was volumetric similar to the second on. However, this time it was much easier to understand because communication was more along the lines of a conversation between the judge and the defendant.
The layout of the third courtroom was quite similar to the second one, a repeating layout they used. However, with there were more doors leading to different areas of security for defendants. This courtroom felt more intimate even though it had high ceilings.
Overall, my court observations gave me great insight into the workings of a courtroom and how this can play into my design for the rest of my semester. Also, the concept of security and privacy and how they play a role in the overall design of the courtroom and courthouse.
[space + justice] 