Northampton County Courtroom Number One.
It's what most of us think of when we imagine a courtroom, a beautiful and spacious room with high ceilings and magnificent, custom-made, windows. It's where I first saw my Dad in action when he took me with him to work one day.
First put in operation right after the Civil War, it was supposed to be converted to a "ceremonial" courtroom. But it is just too useful. It's large, easily capable of holding hundreds of people. The acoustics are remarkable and the huge well in front of the bench provides the judges both security and dignity.
As a young lawyer, I used to watch President Judge Palmer race through a list of cases every month, pressuring lawyers to settle or scheduling trials. One day, the name he called out belonged to a poorly-dressed fellow sitting in the back. He had no lawyer, and had been charged with a minor offense I no longer recall.
"Guilty, your honor."
Palmer, in a hurry to get rid of the case, called the defendant forward and went through a thirty second guilty plea with the guy, during which he learned that this fellow had deliberately committed a crime so he could stay somewhere warm during the winter.
Palmer, PJ: "How about thirty days?"
Defendant: "Could you make it 90, your Honor?"
Palmer, PJ: "If you don't shut up, I'll give you probation."
Unfortunately, falling patches of plaster and peeling lead paint forced Exec John Stoffa to issue an emergency executive order in July for $140 thousand in repairs. For the last month, contractors have worked feverishly, and I snuck inside on Monday to film this beautiful room.
Next week, Pennsylvania's Superior Court, which includes Northampton County Judges Jack Panella and Robert Freedberg, will be hearing cases in Courtroom Number One.
13 comments:
Very cool. I love the paintings of the judges from yesteryear on the walls. One has a Civil War uniform on even though he is an aged man.
Routine maintenence. Gid Stoffa use a local contractor as County Law demands?
Dunno. This was an emergency operation, not routine.
Jim Onembo has been trying to get this done for months. Stoffa did his usual non moving object routine and did nothing. After the story got leaked to the press, Stoffa finally acted.
This should have been handled months ago. the contract would then have had time to be voted on by council. Who knows what connection this "emergency" contractor has to Stoffa.
Out of this bizarre hatred for Stoffa, you find it necessary to lie. The press ran no story until the improvements were well under way. The contractor hired has no connection to Stoffa, who funded his own campaign. It was an emergency that arose as a result of falling plaster and peeling lead-based paint.
Your readers have no idea how you twist the truth for this man. Either that or you are as truely deluded as some have claimed.
I have twisted nothing. You sully a decent man with blatant lies.
In an article someplace I read a comment about the great acoustics in that courtroom. I disagree, they are awful unless you are standing down front. Plus the judges mumble constantly so hearing them in the gallery is strained. A worse acoustic place is the rotunda at the state capital in Harrisburg.
I am familiar with the situation and 11:45 is correct. County Council should look into this.
I am familiar with 11:45 and 5:09 is full of ####
Some would disagree.
BO your cinematic skills rival that of a 5 y.o. handling a camera for the first time! I liked the music though.
Yeah, I suck.
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