REGARDING COURT PROTOCOL
Two very important days in Court are coming up on May 15 and 16 in
RECORDING DEVICES aren't generally permitted, but that usually goes judge-by-judge. You must turn your cell phone off while in Court. You don't want to be embarrassed by that "Hockey Night in
COURT PROTOCOL: For instance, no sun glasses, and you can't perch your sun glasses on your head. No gum chewing or food allowed. You should have a cough if you chew cough drops. You might get away with taking a swig from a water bottle -- discreetly. No roll-up-the rim cups allowed, Starbucks etc. Get your caffeine hit before going into Court. Smoking outside the building only. And that means you also have to allow time for a security inspection when you come back into the building.
Be prepared to store a jacket, newspapers etc, under your bench seat. Some judges don't like clothing on the back of the benches. You can take notes, but you can't pass them around. Share notes only with the person next to you. No paper airplanes.
No chitty chat while presentations are being made. Sometimes a judge or a lawyer will say something funny. In that event, a "titter" from the public gallery is permissible. No loud guffaws, please. Also no booing, hissing or making of rude noises at comments made by the opposition, as deserving as they may be. And no cheering, applauding or "ole!" for Clayton Ruby, as deserving as he may be. And never address the judge by saying, "What umpire school did you go to, Mack?
If you arrive while Court is in session or if you need to leave the Court room, pause as soon as you enter the room or get to the aisle and face the judge, bow your head and turn to leave. This is a sign of respect for the Court and will be appreciated by the judge and the Court services officers.
Court services officers (aka Court room gestapo) are generally nice older people whose job it is to maintain decorum. They will not hesitate to tell you to remove your feet from the bench in front of you or to tell you to shush.
Be prepared to be searched when you enter the Court building. It is much like going through airport security. Put all of your keys and coins in a tray, and your purse/bag/blackberry etc will go through a scanner. Sometimes an officer will open your purse. If you have something in there that you don't wish to share with the world (that purple thong, for instance) package things discreetly in your purse. Do not bring your Buck knife or starter's pistol with you. You will also go through a metal detector and be hand-wanded. If you are holding any part of your clothing together with a safety pin, it may be detected. Dress yourself accordingly.
Sometimes the media are seated prior to the general public. The media will have credentials to show. If you are representing a media organization, get a letter on their letterhead saying that you are on assignment to cover this case. Sometimes seats in a specific area of the court are reserved for press. These will be marked. In unmarked areas, sometimes a reporter will leave her seat at the break and "reserve" it with a piece of paper saying "Press" or something. Do not come back into the Court and take a reporter's seat because they aren't there. Try to stay in the same seats, so no hard feelings are created. Hopefully, Mr. Ruby's office can advise the Court scheduling official that this case will have public, as well as press, in attendance, and many members of that public are his clients ( that's us ) - so a large Court room would be appreciated.
Reporters in the Court and outside of it will be watching you and may want to know your relation to the case ("What kind of dog do you have?" "How has this affected you" etc.) If you are wearing a T-shirt that says "Muzzle Michael Bryant" or "I Vote for My Pit Bull" you could find yourself becoming a photo opportunity, which would make you representative of all of the people in Court. You would also be advertising yourself as a person who makes statements. This is just my opinion but I believe that we should present ourselves to the Court in the same sort of clothing we would wear to a parent-teacher meeting or something like that. Nothing fancy, the only statement being made is that we are clean and tidy, law-abiding citizens bearing witness to the justice system. In other words we should look like what we are.
Jeans are permitted in Court. No shorts, and, please, no tube tops. Court is air conditioned.
Clayton Ruby is there to make our statement. That's what we're paying him for, so we want the media to focus on what he is saying, not what we are wearing or carrying on about. When you chat in the hall, others can hear you. If you need to debate something, take it further down the hall. There may be people attending this case who support the legislation (bite victims etc). We don't want any confrontations.
