Sending the Guilty to Jail

Actually, in the military, it’s called confinement.

This past week I had two trials.  Both were drug use cases by young airmen; one was cocaine, the other marijuana.  These substances are generally frowned upon by the Air Force.

I gave the closing argument in both cases.  Used a theme centering around choices and consequences.  Well, things went very well, and both received the sentence I asked for.  Three months confinement for the cocaine case and one month for the marijuana case.  There were also other military specific punishments, but I won’t bore you with that.

The trials kinda felt like the 100 mock trials I had done before, but when I turned around during the close to point at what is usually a fake defendant, there was a real person.  I have no sympathy for people who use drugs in the military, it jeopardizes the mission, etc; however, when you look at a 20 year old airmen who is about to face a pretty miserable future, you can’t help but have some sympathy for the situation.

And if that wasn’t ‘real’ enough, at the end, after I get the sentence that I want and people are busy complimenting the case I put on, the defendant is being lead out of the courtroom in handcuffs on his way to confinement in Germany.  Sarah actually experienced the same thing.  She had watched my trial, and then went down to the car to wait for me.  As she was waiting for me she saw the guy get put into the car in cuffs and watched the car drive off.  When I got outside, she was pretty shocked about how real it was to watch the whole thing.

I love getting in the courtroom, and it feels great when I put on a good case and get the result I wanted.  But, when it’s all done, I realize it’s not a game.

A Weekend in August

I have explained the often frustrating concept of riposso – the Itlian siesta in which everything closes from 1230 to 330 everyday, and most things are closed Sundays and sometimes Mondays too.

Well, in August, riposso takes on a whole new meaning. The country is shut down. Yes, I say, shut down. Stores are closed for weeks at a time, homes are shuttered up with owners nowhere to be found, and if you want food you better figure out the couple of hours the grocery store will be open.

So, how do we deal with this? Take a deep breath, sleep in, and go to the beach. I think that if they could shut the beach down, they would… but, ha, the ocean will always be there.

The Italians actually have it down pretty well. If everyone shuts down, then everyone has to go on vacation. And that’s what they do. I haven’t exactly figured out where they go, but I’m pretty sure they are all in the same place and that’s the only place with stuff open.

The moral… talk to your neighbors, see if you can get your whole community to shut down for a month and go on vacation. Ha.