1) Yesterday I had my first in person hearing in a courtroom since last March. It was a weird, and at times jarring experience. Here are my reflections:

2) Power corrupts. And many people who want to be judges probably should not be. The judge in my case shouted at defendants and witnesses alike in the courtroom and on zoom. He also did not wear a mask at any point while in the courtroom.

3) At least my mask covered most of my facial reactions. I’m still working on my poker face.

4) Cross examining a witness testifying over zoom is not good enough (I objected, with caselaw, but was overruled). As Justice Scalia said, “Virtual confrontation might be sufficient to protect virtual constitutional rights; I doubt whether it is sufficient to protect real ones.”

5) Covid has been weaponized to make the criminal justice system even more awful. Judges allow adverse witnesses to testify over zoom, while also forcing lawyers to trial in unsafe and unconstitutional settings. At every stage, the accused is disadvantaged.

6) and while jail and prison are always terrible places, they are even worse in covid times. But many of the judges in Harris County seem numbed to that reality.

7a) Compared to all the other injustices in the system it’s such a minor point, but it’s hard to be a mom who is still pumping breastmilk, and also be a courtroom lawyer. I pumped right before I went to court, but then the hearing started an hour later than I was told.

7b) I thought I would be able to advocate for myself to take a break during the hearing to pump, but in the end I didn’t feel comfortable. Even after the hearing, I felt like it would disadvantage my client because we were crunched for time with our post-hearing plea.That sucked.

8) The criminal justice system is at least as awful as it was a year ago. As public defenders and defense attorneys, all we can do is keep fighting, keep trying, and refuse to be numbed to it.