Courthouse Story

            Over the weekend, I was given the opportunity to go to court with my friend’s father who is a lawyer in Providence, Rhode Island. The lawyer, Milan T. Azar, took me to the Rhode Island Family Court in Downtown Providence. Azar is defending a juvenile who was charged with having a knife in school. Aside from Azar and myself, there were only five other people present in the courtroom. The juvenile who was being charged, and his father were both present in court. Also the Attorney General, a stenographer, and the judge were present. Azar explained to me that the stenographer was the person who would be taking notes on the case. Patrick C. Lynch is the Attorney General of Providence. Judge Jeremiah would be presiding over the case. Azar also explained that the public is not allowed in juvenile cases, but I was allowed to go in because I was with him. The only way someone is allowed to attend the case is if they are with the family or with the lawyer. Also, there was no jury involved in the case. We were only in the room for about forty-five minutes, when the judge came up with a verdict. Since the juvenile did possess a deadly weapon on a school campus, he would be suspended for two weeks. During that time, he would have to do 150 hours of community service. This punishment would have been severely increased if the juvenile has used the weapon to hurt anyone, but he did not. Overall, it was a pretty interesting day in court. 

Broadcast

2003 American Idol winner, Ruben Studdard will be headlining the musical "Ain't Misbehavin'" at the Strand Theatre. This is the first big show for the theatre, which recently underwent $6 million renovations. When questioned, Studdard said "I never thought at this point in my career, I'd be doing a Broadway musical."