“I’ll oftentimes see people who are lost”

Excerpt from Samantha, a paralegal at the Hall of Justice in winter 2022

Samantha: Umm, I’d choose to make it more accessible, especially given the COVID-19 circumstances, it's not the easiest for people coming to court to know which department their hearing is in or which courthouse to go to. 

Interviewer: Mmm. Could you talk a little bit more about that?

Samantha: Um, because I do go to court daily as part of my job, I'll oftentimes see people who are lost, or people who are in the wrong courtroom, people who have run in two, three hours late for their court because they were at a different courthouse. 

Interviewer: Oh wow. *laughs* Um, so what do you think could be improved to kind of mitigate that confusion? 

Samantha: Uh, just general communication. Um, for people who have court dates, there are a lot of different ways that they can hear about when their next court date is, and who is representing them on a case. Uh, the court does do this communications inside the courthouse, but it's also up to a solid system of attorneys. And, I guess, or, that's the way that I know people get communicated about their court dates as far as through my job … Um, it's a lot of relying on one another.