So.  Today I was covering court for a friend of mine.  She was in Hawaii – nice!

Anyhow, her client shows up, a 50-something year old woman who’s never even had a speeding ticket but now she’s charged with an extreme DUI.  And she starts asking me about her case.  Questions like – “will I have to do any jail time?  I can do probation, fines, community service, but I can’t do any jail time.  I’m a hundred years old, for one thing, and for another, I’ll lose my job if I have to do any jail.”

Oy, I thought.  Why hadn’t my friend told this woman that if she’s convicted she most certainly WILL do jail time.  Why?  Because that’s one of the tough parts of our job: having to tell ordinary folks who look like our mom or our sister that they’re going to have to do jail if convicted.

OK, so it’s not as bad as a doctor telling a patient they only have so much time left, but it’s still tough!!

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