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On Friday October 23, 2015 I attended Hayward’s Hall of Justice’s walk-in court in room 502, where Judge Scott Patton presides. Upon walking into the courtroom at 2pm when the doors opened, already my expectations of what a courtroom looked like differed from what I was seeing. Originally, I had always envisioned all courtrooms to have the judge’s bench in the center of the room along with the bailiff standing to the side, and space for someone to testify along with a podium for a plaintiff and a defendant to speak; pretty much what you always see on television.
However, this particular courtroom had a different set up. The Judge’s desk was off to the left back corner of the room, and towards the far right was a cubicle like room covered from floor to ceiling that had blinds covering every window. The sign that was stamped with “NO COMMUNICATION WITH INMATES,” made it clear that the concealed space was designated for inmates who were transported from prison to court. Towards the front were about six more desks, each consisted of different working people …show more content…
At first I figured it was what the court used to look at surveillance videos or videos of some other kind to help a case. Imagine my surprise when I witnessed it being used to contact Santa Rita Jail twice during my time there. Upon coming home and doing further research I found an article on Huffington Post that discussed how Virtual Hearings help to save courts money. By using modern technology it is not only easier on the inmate who doesn’t have to now stand in line for hours just to talk to a judge. It also saves money on buses now that the inmate doesn’t need to be transported back and forth from point A to point B just to be told what he or she is being charged with and when to appear back in

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