Westmoreland County Court of Common Pleas
Well, reporting on my first court session was definitely an experience, but it was more casual than I originally expected. The court house sat long Route 40 in a small tan trailer, when you first walk in there are four or five mismatched seats and an office that is twice it's size. The court room itself sits off to the left, hosting maybe twenty seats two rather large tables, one wooden and one plastic. The room itself is filled with a harsh fluorescent lighting, the walls are piled high with brown card boxes labeled with different categories and mix-matched letters and numbers that I don't know the meanings to. For some of the hearings, (most of which were for minor/major traffic violations that day) were casual. Sometimes the officers would show up, two out of four times they didn't, which made for a relatively boring day for both me (the observer) and for the judge. After an hour break for dinner from 4.p.m. until 5 p.m., I headed back for a second round of criminal hearings that both dealt with underage drinking and false identification. Needless to say, these hearings were much more interesting than simple traffic violations. It also made for interesting personal experiences after seeing this same "criminals" walking around on campus the next day.
All in all, I really enjoyed my experience. It would be a beat that I think would be fun and interesting to cover on a more frequent basis.
All in all, I really enjoyed my experience. It would be a beat that I think would be fun and interesting to cover on a more frequent basis.