#and the courts basically said rehabilitation would do nothing in this case so he did like 5 years probation and thats it

[deathwarlock]

sometimes I remember the Gary Plauche case and I'm reminded of how based he is.

[the-homicidediaries]

Mary Bell

The Tyneside Strangler

TW: child death, sexual abuse, genital mutilation

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Hello! So I’m back with another horrible story because people keep asking for them.

SO HERE WE GO

This is the story of Mary Bell, who is one of only a handful of the youngest murderers.. EVER.

Mary Bell was born to a 16 year old prostitute named Betty in Newcastle upon Tyne, England in May of 1957. (Yeah, this didn’t happen that long ago. Horrifying.)

Now, no one is entirely sure who Mary’s father is, but Betty made it very clear she wanted nothing to do with Mary from the very beginning, telling doctors, “Get that thing away from me.”

And the best thing the doctors could come up with was to continue to let Mary live with her mother.

Perfect. What could go wrong?

Well, a lot.

Things got way worse. Betty was away a lot in Glasgow for her “business trips”. When she wasn’t away, she subjected Mary to physical and mental abuse.

Betty’s sister testified that she once saw Betty try to give Mary away to a local woman who was unsuccessful in her adoption journey.

Betty’s sister also noted that Mary was very “accident prone”; i.e. “falling” down the stairs and “accidentally” overdosing sleeping pills.

After Mary’s “fall”, it was reported that Mary suffered horrible brain damage in her pre-frontal cortex, the part of the brain that deals with decision-making and voluntary movements.

(Richard Ramirez, John Wayne Gacy, Fred West, David Berkowitz, Ed Gein, Albert Fish, and several other serial killers also suffered brain injuries as they were growing up.)

(I want to mention here there is a bit of a debate amongst experts whether to Betty wanted to get rid of Mary because she wasn’t fit to be a mother OR Betty had Munchausen by Proxy, which should all know is my favorite mental illness. 😬

Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy (MSBP) is a mental health problem in which a caregiver makes up or causes an illness or injury in a person under his or her care, such as a child, an elderly adult, or a person who has a disability. The most famous case was Clauddinea “Dee Dee” Blancharde abusing her daughter Gypsy Rose Blancharde.)

Back to Mary.

According to family members, Betty began prostituting Mary out by the time she was four years old. (That’s hideous. That’s a year younger than Shiloh, my baby baby. I hope it isn’t true.)

I also read that by the time Mary was five, she had already had a brush with death, watching her five year old friend being run over and killed by a bus.

By the time Mary was ten, she was quiet, manipulative, and isolated herself from everyone.

In May 11, 1968, just weeks before her first murder, Mary was playing with a three year old neighbor when he was horribly injured from a fall at the top of an air raid shelter.

His parents deemed it an accident.

After this, though, a few of the neighborhood mothers came forward to the police and said Mary had tried to choke their young daughters. No charges were filed, however.

On May 25, 1968, one day before Mary Bell turned 11 years old, Mary strangled four year old Martin Brown in an abandoned house. Mary fled the scene and returned back to the body with her friend Norma Bell, (no relation), but found they had been beaten by two local boys who had been playing in the abandoned house and stumbled upon the body.

Police were baffled by what they saw. Besides a little blood and saliva on Martin’s face, there were no obvious signs of violence. There was, however, an empty bottle of painkillers on the floor near the body. This led police to believe Martin had swallowed the pain pills and his death was deemed an accident.

Mary might have gotten away with this had she not gone to Martin’s family’s house and asked his mother to see Martin. She explained to Mary that Martin was dead, and Mary said she knew, she wanted to see the dead body in the coffin.

Martin’s mother slammed the door in her face.

Shortly after, Mary and her friend Norma broke into a nursery school and vandalized it with notes taking responsibility for Martin Brown’s death and promising to kill again. Police assumed the notes were a morbid prank.

The nursery school installed an alarm system shortly after and Mary and Norma were caught at the scene of the crime but were later seen as loitering and let off the hook.

Just.. YA KNOW!? All the signs are pointing to this girl.

Mary even told her classmates she had murdered Martin Brown.

It’s aggravating as hell.

BUT I DIGRESS

On June 31, 1968, Mary Bell, now 11, strangled three year old Brian Howe to death in the same area where she strangled Martin Brown.

She later went back to the body and carved an ‘M’ onto Brian’s chest with a razor and mutilated his thighs and penis with a pair of scissors.

In a sickening twist, Mary and Norma offered to help Brian’s sister look for him when his family realized he was missing. Mary even pointed out the cinder blocks where his body was, but since Norma said it wouldn’t be there, Brian’s sister dismissed it and looked elsewhere.

Y’all. I cannot.

When the coroner’s report came back on Brian, police were shocked to find the ‘M’ carved onto his chest and the coroner reporting this death was most likely caused by a child due to the lack of force used during the attack.

MORTIFYING

Mary and Norma were not conspicuous at all; they were interviewed by the police and excited to learn new news pertaining to the case.

Mary was spotted lurking outside of Brian’s house the day of his burial. She was laughing and rubbing her hands together when she saw the coffin.

The police called Mary in to be interviewed a second time and Mary made up a story about an eight year old boy she had seen hit Brian, (police knew she and Norma had seen him the day he died), in the head and that he had a pair of broken scissors with him.

The 👏🏼 police 👏🏼 hadn’t 👏🏼 disclosed 👏🏼 anything 👏🏼 publicly 👏🏼 about 👏🏼 the 👏🏼 scissors. 👏🏼

This is where Mary done goofed. Only investigators and the murderer would have known about this clue.

Upon further questioning, Mary and Norma broke down and began blaming each other for the murders.

During the trial, which took place in December, the jury agreed that Mary had committed the murders.

Did she receive a murder charge, you may ask?

Absolutely not.

While the jury did find Mary Bell guilty, a manslaughter charge was given because Mary’s lawyer and the court psychiatrists argued Mary suffered from psychopathy, and the court agreed she was not fully responsible of her actions.

😐😐😐😐😐😐😐😐😐😐😐😐

Norma Bell, however, was regarded as an unwilling accomplice and was acquitted.

Let’s look at the difference between manslaughter and murder charges and why this is so important.

man·slaugh·ter

/ˈmanˌslôdər/

noun

1. the crime of killing a human being without malice aforethought, or otherwise in circumstances not amounting to murder.

mur·der

/ˈmərdər/

noun

1. the unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another.

I obviously haven’t gone to law school, but I would argue that the little neighbor boy’s “accidental fall” and the mothers coming forward about Mary choking their young daughters could be viewed as premeditated. She was trying to kill them, she just managed to kill two little boys instead.

Yes she had a brain injury, but giving her a manslaughter charge is offensive to me. Offensive for the families who lost their sons. If she has a brain injury and there were several cases documented where she was hurting other children, she should have been locked away forever. Just my opinion. I agree with medication and therapy, but anyone could relapse at any time and I don’t think that’s a risk anyone should take. Again, just my unprofessional as h*ck opinion.

(Ed Kemper went to a mental institute and tricked and lied his way into letting the psychiatrists let him leave after he had killed both of his grandparents at just 15 years old. They assumed he was rehabilitated; he just learned the right answers to their questions. He later killed eight more people, including his mother.

Just an example.)

(Another example, they medicated Richard Kuklinski after he was arrested and did not feel the need to release him even though he showed signs of improvement.)

Moving on.

The judge concluded that Mary was a dangerous person and a serious threat to other children. She was sentenced to be imprisoned “at Her Majesty’s pleasure,” a British term that basically means the powers that be would release her when they felt she had been properly rehabilitated.

Apparently, they were very impressed with Mary’s treatment and rehabilitation and felt like it was appropriate to let Mary Bell out in 1980, T W E L V E Y E A R S after Mary committed these murders.

She was put in very strict probation but was able to live amongst her community as a normal person.

The cherry on top?

Mary Bell was given a new identity to offer her a new chance at life and to be able to avoid the press.

She had to move several times because the press kept tracking her down, however.

Today, Mary Bell and her daughter are in protective custody at a secret address no one knows.

Norma Bell passed away in 1989.

Do I feel Mary Bell needs court ordered protection and should be able to hide her identity? No.

Do I think they released her far too early? Yes

Do I think Martin Brown and Brian Howe got justice? No.

Does this story anger me even though I’ve heard it and read about it fifteen million times? Yes.

Her mother should be responsible. She should be responsible instead of hiding. The victim’s families deserve better.

Below are pictures of Mary Bell aged 11, Martin Brown, Brian Howe, and Mary Bell aged 51.

[wardencommanderrodimiss]

Witches, Chapter 21: post-trial wrap-up. No, seriously, finally, it’s over. It’s been....3000 years....

[Seelie of Kurain Chapter Masterlist] [ao3]

[Witches Chapter Masterlist] [ao3]

----

It’s all there, on the record, to end the case, to make the next trial go smoother: the victim, Jack Shipley, slipped and fell and Rimes couldn’t pull him back to safety; Orla and Sasha did nothing wrong, and neither did Ora, a year ago. Azura Summers’ death was a heart attack. Two accidental deaths, and Rimes trying to get revenge on the wrong orca for something that never needed to be avenged. All this pain and agony, all because the victim wanted to keep it a secret that there were two orcas.

It never needed to happen this way.

Sometimes Phoenix thinks it’s easier to deal with cases where one of the parties involved was actively a malicious murderer. Because it hurts, god does it hurt, if the victim or killer is someone that they knew, loved, trusted, and Phoenix has both been the one in pain and the one trying to console his clients, but at least there’s a feeling that justice was served. Someone got what they deserved, in the end.

No one deserved this nightmare.

The court officers don’t escort Rimes out right away; Sasha, out of the defendant’s chair, out of suspicion, hurries forward to speak with him. He doesn’t even seem to notice her approaching. He might not have blinked since Phoenix told him about Azura’s heart condition, since Rimes himself realized that everything he did just hurt innocent people, and demanded to know why Phoenix couldn’t just let him be called a murderer and punished as such. Yeah, he’s criminally liable for a lot, and everyone here knows it, the judge has even said it, but - he did not want to kill Jack Shipley, and that still means something. Rimes doesn’t deserve a death penalty like Rimes seems to think he deserves.

“Hey, Marlon,” Sasha says. He jumps, slamming his shin into the witness stand. He really didn’t notice her. “When this is all done, y’know - served out your sentence and rehabilitation - you’d better come back to the aquarium, you hear?”

“But…” He doesn’t even say anything else. He lets everything that’s happened in the past half an hour stand for itself.

“We’re pirates, remember? Cap’n Orla’s Swashbucklers! A pirate crew’s not gonna care about criminal records in hiring!” She seems to be deliberately missing the point. Rimes doesn’t say anything else. “Hey. Marlon. That whole, um, hulking out thing - you didn’t - that wasn’t some kind of catastrophic deal, right? You - you okay?”

And of course he isn’t, not in the broad scheme of things, and of course Sasha isn’t okay in that sense either, but she only means one thing and that’s the thing that Phoenix has been wondering, and Blackquill has already been escorted out of the courtroom but Taka is perched just off to the side, listening in too. What did he bargain away, thinking he’d gained something useful?

Rimes slumps until his forehead hits the witness stand. “Had’ta give up being a vegetarian,” he mumbles.

“Wait,” Athena says, “do you mean you had to give up meat or you had to—”

“I was a vegetarian.” Rimes doesn’t lift his head. The way he’s doubled over hurts Phoenix’s back and neck by proxy. “But I have to eat meat now.”

Whether he was a vegetarian for personal or religious reasons, or health reasons, or something as simple as he thought raw meat was gross to look at and hated cooking with it and had to functionally become a vegetarian (like Phoenix his first year having a kitchen except takeout sushi isn’t vegetarian and ramen and pizza aren’t a healthy vegetarian diet) - whatever it was, going back to meat in the diet is some sort of sacrifice. And that so often is the cornerstone of a deal: a sacrifice. Giving something up. A name, a soul, a skill, a principle, some cash for an all-you-can-eat buffet—

And it could’ve been so, so much worse for Rimes. He’s lucky. 

“I made the deal for strength,” he adds, still hunched over, like his spine has been wrenched out of him and replaced with jelly. “I thought - I thought I could be strong enough then to help. But I wasn’t strong enough to hang onto the captain, and all the rest - physical strength didn’t matter. Didn’t help me at all.”

Which, Phoenix wouldn’t be surprised if whichever fae gave him the magatama knew that it wouldn’t. It’s a human thing - and a fae thing, it’s a people thing, to not know what would actually help. What they really need, versus what they think they need. 

Sasha steps around the witness stand and pulls Rimes around into a hug, his head slumped down onto her shoulder instead of the stand now. Phoenix hears, and thinks he isn’t supposed to, Rimes’ ragged repeated “I’m sorry”s and “It’s my fault”s.

“Yeah and you’re still my friend, y’know that,” Sasha says.

The magatama slips from Rimes’ hand and hits the floor, shattering with a sound like it’s made of glass. Rimes shudders and trembles and his whole body shrinks, back down to the man he was before.

-

“You never cease to surprise me.”

Down the hall, at the top of the stairs, Athena is excitedly introducing Sasha to Trucy, and re-introducing Sasha and Apollo. Taka is long gone. And Edgeworth stands next to Phoenix, arms folded, drumming his fingers, and Phoenix can’t tell if he’s angry or begrudgingly impressed or wholeheartedly impressed. “So when Blackquill came to you to tell you that he was going to prosecute an orca, did you regret lengthening his leash at that point?”

Edgeworth shakes his head. “Prosecutor Blackquill was with me at the time. We were discussing - a case.” If it was Blackquill’s case specifically, Phoenix thinks he would have said that, but this just sounds like there’s even more, other cases, behind the scenes, above the security clearance of absolutely anyone. “And then I have a call from Detective Fulbright that he has a case that may be able to go to trial, and Prosecutor Blackquill is of course interested in that.” He shakes his head a second time. “If you think Blackquill is a thorn in your side in court, believe me, he is just as much of one to be outside of it.”

“That sounds consistent with what I’ve seen.” Phoenix glances around again to be sure that the hawk isn’t anywhere around. “Wait, you met with him - at your office? One-on-one? Without Fulbright around?”

“Yes, I have. Several armed officers on the other side of the door, of course - Detective Gumshoe stringently insists—”

“Good,” Phoenix interrupts. He should buy Gumshoe dinner for that. Someone has to keep Edgeworth’s dumb ass in one piece. “And Blackquill knows he’d still be rotting only in prison if not for you, right? And that if he—”

Edgeworth’s pale eyes flicker sideways at Phoenix. “Your concern is appreciated and entirely unwarranted and unnecessary. Prosecutor Blackquill, assuredly, has nothing against me, unlike certain others who you spent significant one-on-one time with.”

Oh. There it is. That gulf always between them, sometimes near closed and then it yawns, and they are here and here is further apart. “Good,” Phoenix repeats, more faintly than before. “Is there anything new you can tell me about him that would help?”

“Unfortunately not. He’s very stubborn in regards to his own murder case - as I said, a thorn in my side.”

“And maybe an ache in your head and a pain in your ass, too?”

Even if Edgeworth is, maybe not mad at him, but frustrated enough with him to bring up Kristoph, Phoenix is pleased to know that he can still make him snort in amusement. “I’m in particular agreement with His Honor about your need to watch your language.”

“Just in court though, right?”

“No.” Edgeworth turns his head to fully affix a glare on him, and Phoenix wilts. “In general. I can only imagine that good things would come of you choosing to fully speak and act like the lawyer that you are.”

The lawyer that he hasn’t been for eight years. The lawyer that Edgeworth pushed him to be, again. “All else aside,” Edgeworth adds, “such as and especially the orca, and that you are an utterly ridiculous man lacking a modicum of good sense and decorum—”

“That’s a lot to throw aside.”

Edgeworth ignores him. “—I am happy to see you standing in court again. You deserve this.”

“I—?” Are you sure? Do I really? After everything I’ve done? Everything that you know I am?

“You do,” Edgeworth says. “And I look forward to seeing what you do next, so long as you do not decide that you will - try and outdo yourself in finding a more outlandish defendant.”

“Hey, if they show up at my office, who am I to turn away clients? It’s not like I’ve ever had enough work to really be choosy with it. You’d said that yourself plenty of times.”

“Though I can’t say I expected an orca to be the logical conclusion of your manner of conducting business.”

They’re an Anything Agency. This was the place they were going to end up. “Would you think better or worse of me if I tell you I didn’t know the client was an orca at first, until we got to the aquarium and Ms Buckler introduced us to said orca?”

“You went all the way out to meet the client without having asked such basic information as name or species - yes, that does sound exactly like you.” He doesn’t answer whether that’s better or worse, just makes it clear that he knows Phoenix well enough to not be surprised. The more Phoenix thinks about it, the more he’s surprised that he didn’t ever get himself into a situation like this before. Maybe it could be said that there’s a lesson here, but he thinks he’s going to deliberately not learn it. “And the fact that from that, you pulled two victories, and cleared up the truth of a guilty man who was nevertheless not guilty of murder - also, very much like you.”

“You don’t need to flatter me,” Phoenix says. “I’m already on board to help you out with whatever, remember?”

He knows it isn’t flattery - or if it is, it isn’t hollow, because Edgeworth doesn’t say anything he doesn’t mean - but he’s still locked into deflect, deflect. Edgeworth knows how much Phoenix feels he doesn’t belong here. He’s not going to address it straight-out - that’s not his style, that’s not their styles, but he knows, and he still thinks that this is exactly where Phoenix does belong. 

The one word he wants to say, thanks, sticks his throat shut, but he hopes Edgeworth knows anyway.

“Hey, Boss! Hi, Mr Edgeworth!” Athena waves them over. “Boss, Sasha wants us to come back to the aquarium one last time so Orla can thank us in person, too! And we should probably pick up Pearly, right?”

Not that Pearl is limited in her movements in a way that necessitates them picking her up in a car, but if she’s still hanging around the aquarium, she’d probably be happy to see them and come back to the office with them. “Sounds like a plan,” he says. “Catch up with you later, Edgeworth.” He gives his friend a solid thwack on the shoulder.

“I can give Trucy and Mr Justice a lift back to your office, then,” Edgeworth says. Trucy beams; Apollo, terror-stricken, glances between Edgeworth and Trucy and seems to resign himself to  whatever this fate is. Phoenix would like for Apollo to get to know Edgeworth better, but can’t blame him for the fear. Edgeworth’s scary even before he got the title Chief Prosecutor to cement it.

“Oh, Prosecutor Edgeworth,” Athena says. “There’s something I wanted to ask you - can I email you later?”

“Ah - of course.” Edgeworth still glances at Phoenix, raising an eyebrow, doubtlessly wondering what question she has that she isn’t going to the nearest adult in her life, the one right next to her. Probably something about cars or Europe or any of the other gaps in Phoenix’s life experience, something that she figures he’s too much of a mess to have an answer to. Maybe it’s something about Phoenix’s badge, the losing of it, that she wants to know without tipping Phoenix to the fact that she’s digging into his ugly past like this. Or maybe it’s the what the hell about Blackquill she wants to know. There are lots of questions it could be. 

Phoenix shrugs back at Edgeworth. It’s sort of like they’re co-parenting another daughter. No real way around that now, and Phoenix follows her out of the courthouse as she hurtles herself down the stairs.

-

They arrive back in the orca pool room in time to catch the middle-end of a lecture Dr Crab is giving Sasha about taking her health seriously and taking it easy until her condition is fully, properly managed. She sits at the edge of the pool, patting Orla’s nose, her hair soaking wet, like she just jumped straight into the pool upon her return. “I was thinking Orla and I would put on a mini show for you when you got here,” Sasha says to Athena, “but that’s obviously not happening.”

“I’m inclined to agree with the doctor,” Phoenix says.

“He’s a vet, not a people-doctor!” Sasha protests. Jokingly? It sounds like a joke. 

“And you, Miss Selkie, are as much seal as you are human.”

“Not at the same time!” She stands up, careful with her footing, no doubt thinking about the victim slipping and falling to his death. “But, really. Phoenix, Athena, I cannot ever thank you enough, and your office, and Pearl, too.” Sasha waves at Pearl, who is sitting with Rifle and the penguin chick, Sniper, over by the wall. “All of you! Thank you, thank you, for what you did for me, and Orla, and the aquarium, for everyone. You found us the truth, you got us closure - made me realize this guy isn’t so bad after all!” She elbows Dr Crab. 

“Not sure I’m happy about that one.” Crab steps away from her second nudge. 

“You really helped us out a ton, Pearls,” Phoenix says. “Definitely couldn’t have done this all without you.”

“Oh, it was nothing!” She starts to cover her face with her hands and decides to duck behind Rifle instead. “I’m sure you could have won without me, Mr Nick!”

He could have, yes - but not to this same end. He couldn’t have proven Rimes was trying to save Shipley in the end; he wouldn’t have had the time or patience to plaster fingerprinting powder over everything. But he’s not one to look a gift debt-forgiveness in the mouth, either, so he doesn’t point that out. Dr Crab’s eyes narrow, wondering, no doubt, how Phoenix got such a tricky, powerful faery to like him so much that she writes off all this investigation and assistance as nothing. What he had to lose to gain that. Phoenix shrugs back at him, and they watch Sasha and Athena head over to Pearl, Sasha animatedly explaining something to Athena and half holding her back from charging down Rifle. 

“And thanks for spilling almost all of the aquarium’s secrets like that,” Dr Crab adds dryly. 

“I’m only a little sorry,” Phoenix says. Better to be honest.

Dr Crab waves dismissively. “You said you would, and I was prepared for that. I’m almost glad I’ve got less to hide now. That writer lady, now that she’s not crusading after Orla anymore, said to me that she thinks that the aquarium’s in the right with the TORPEDO, and the law’s wrong, and she’d take up our case to advocate for its legality.” He grins, just slightly. “So we might be able to wiggle free of any serious consequences.”

“That’s—” Phoenix pauses to think over what he was about to say. “Speaking as a lawyer, I shouldn’t say that’s good, but I’m glad to hear that anyway.”

“I’m pretty good at keeping secrets, so don’t worry, I won’t go blabbing on you.” Phoenix laughs awkwardly, while Dr Crab’s face doesn’t twitch. He seems very serious. “Though, speaking of secrets, buddy, if you can keep your mouth shut when you don’t have a case hinging on it, I’ve got to tell you, there’s one thing you didn’t get quite right, back in that courtroom, and I wasn’t about to go correcting you on it.”

There’s a tanuki standing in front of Apollo, saying very similar words, and the blood left both Apollo and Athena’s faces, and if Apollo had vomited right in Filch’s face it wouldn’t have been much of a surprise. But Phoenix - Phoenix doesn’t know what he feels. Not this time. Dr Crab, unlike Filch, didn’t perjure himself willy-nilly all through this trial. If he held something back—

“Go on,” Phoenix says. His voice is strangled even to his own ears. Crab gives him a curious and suspicious once-over. 

“The calendar with the meeting with Jack, seven am at the orca pool - that’s mine, yeah, and I did go to that meeting to wait for him, yeah. But.” His silence might be dramatic, or a last assessment of whether Phoenix is trustworthy, and he adds, “That meant the orca pool at Supermarine Aquarium, not here.”

“The Supermarine Aquarium?” Phoenix repeats. “That’s the dolphin therapy place, right?” Athena explained animal-assisted therapy, and that aquarium across town in particular, sometime last evening, while they compiled their last investigatory information, but Phoenix checked out mentally in the middle of it. And something about an open-ocean marine sanctuary too, for whales that had been rescued from bad conditions at other institutions but couldn’t live fully on their own in the wild. He has no idea what relevance Athena thought that had. She just likes to talk about whales. “I didn’t even know they had an orca.”

“They don’t,” Dr Crab says. “They’re just harboring her for us.” It doesn’t click right away. Crab goes on. “When I told you about how I’d fake Orla’s death if I had to - I have full confidence I’d be able to, because Jack and I already did it once. Ora’s been living there the last year - we tried to send her into the wild, but she didn’t want to leave Orla, and Orla didn’t want to leave us, and we couldn’t exactly just have an orca hanging out around in the harbor for everyone to keep running into.”

“And that’s why you and the owner were making those mysterious payments,” Phoenix says faintly. DePlume had some wild ideas about conspiracy involving that, but she couldn’t dream this up. 

“Yep. Couldn’t exactly force that on the Supermarine’s budget, since she’s our orca, so we’ve been paying them for all her food and care. And orcas eat a lot.” 

“I’d believe it,” Phoenix says, still thinking of someone else, someone who eats a lot and puts a serious strain on his wallet when she does. 

“Since you’ve proven now that Ora was innocent all along, I figure we’ll bring her back here sooner rather than later,” Dr Crab says. “Not that I know how to budget and run an aquarium, and Sasha doesn’t, either. It’ll be a hell of a learning curve with Jack gone, but I don’t plan on going anywhere - but for now, I think it’d be better if you didn’t go saying anything about what I just told you.”

“Don’t worry,” Phoenix says. “I’ve been told I’m very good at keeping secrets.”

The bitter bend to the words would be hard to miss, but Dr Crab doesn’t move a muscle in his face. “Good. Hey, Sasha,” he calls over to her. “I’ve got my rounds to make and check in on the rest of the animals. Don’t do anything crazy as soon as I turn my back.” To Phoenix, he adds, “You seem to garner some sort of respect among young women in their early twenties, apparently, so I’m tasking you with making sure Sasha doesn’t start trying to show off.”

The average age is more like late teens, and the amount of actual “respect” he gets is up for strenuous debate. “Guess you have to be some sort of a crazy show-off to go get a job working with orcas when you’re a selkie.”

Dr Crab huffs. “Azura wasn’t like that. And I think your one in yellow is contributing to the feedback loop.”

“Athena’s got a - competitive spirit, yeah.”

“I don’t suppose I’ll be lucky enough that this is the last I see of you,” Dr Crab says. “Sasha’s keen on giving all your crew lifetime tickets, if we don’t run our place into the ground figuring out the management side.”

“I learned to run a law office on the fly,” Phoenix says. “Not really the same, but best of luck to you. And thanks for all your help, Dr Crab. I appreciate you being mostly honest.”

Dr Crab snorts, casting one glance back at Sasha and Orla, and he leaves. 

Hell of a fortuitous thing, the doctor’s name. Herman Crab, marine veterinarian, weirdly cool with sea witches and selkies and fae. Phoenix doesn’t think names as given determine a trajectory in life, but the fae pick them deliberately. Courtney comes to mind. Or humans who escape the Twilight Realm and aren’t sure how they’re supposed to call themselves other than after what they are or what they do. Eldoon’s father comes to mind. (He wonders how Thalassa got her name.)

But like hell he’d ever ask. Azura‘s story was something Sasha asked, something relevant to all their questions. Case closed. Phoenix isn’t going to cast around trying to find someone with a more fucked-up story than his own. No one wins in that kind of game. 

“Hey, Boss!” Athena calls. “Come feed Orla with us!” She and Pearl and Sasha take turns grabbing a fish from a bucket and tossing it to the orca. Phoenix watches her snap her jaws, full of bright white sharp teeth she doesn’t need to use because she just swallows these little fish whole. Thinks of someone else with a mouth full of teeth, not taking the time to chew. Wants to say no thanks. He could tell his girls it’s time to leave and head back to the office. 

“All right, fine,” he says, and Sasha springs up with a fish ready to drop in his hands. “What do I do?”

-

Trucy is very quiet after Prosecutor Edgeworth leaves them back at the office. Apollo asks her if she’s okay and when she says “yeah” she doesn’t even manage to infuse it with her usual mask of cheer, and her fingers twitch red when she says it, her hand flitting up toward her diamond brooch and stopping. It would be easy to call her on it and she knows it, but there’s an unspoken social contract that has slowly coalesced between them all to let little things slide. Athena going quiet and staring off into space or furiously dragging legal textbooks off the shelves and paging through them; Trucy staring at the portrait of her father above the piano or at Phoenix’s desk and the bottom drawer there; Phoenix poking his head into whatever room the rest of them are gathered in if there’s a sudden silence like he’s afraid something happened, or several moments Apollo watched him studying for the Bar where he’d put his head in his hands and dig his hands through his hair about to pull it out. Apollo doesn’t know what makes Athena tick but the others he knows too well, and they let each other have breathing room. 

Close to an hour later - it’s past five but Apollo doesn’t want to leave until Trucy has some company - she comes back and hops up onto Phoenix’s desk. “This is the first time Daddy’s been a lawyer since he’s been my daddy,” she says. “It’s his first trial that I’ve ever seen.” She unclips her cape from around her shoulders and tosses it into what looks like empty air, but it falls draped solidly over a wisp. “I was there for his - his last one, but he wasn’t my daddy then, and I was only paying attention to my other daddy to make a diversion for him to escape if he needed it.”

Apollo nods, silently. 

“You know something, now, Apollo? I’ve been here half my life now. I’ve been Trucy Wright just a bit longer than I was Trucy Enigmar, and I’m gonna be Trucy Wright for the rest of my life and it’s only gonna be longer and longer now. And I love Daddy and I don’t want to be anywhere else but it’s…”

“Still weird?” Apollo asks. She nods. “I get that.” When he was sixteen it would’ve been about half his life away from Khura’in, except he didn’t have another loving father to ease the sting. Trucy was luckier. 

“Did you ever have somewhere you stayed enough to miss it?” she asks. And then hastily she adds, “Never mind, you don’t have to talk if you don’t wanna.” He must have shown panic on his face, panic or pain, but those don’t narrow the answer to her question down. Panic and pain are responses that fit either meaning, that he spent his whole life never setting roots down to have a home, or he’ll spend the rest of his life aching for somewhere long gone. “You’re welcome to stay here forever, you know! You’re like family now!”

It’s a weird sentiment, all considered, that Apollo knows all about the Gramaryes and absolutely does not want to be a part of that, and he also knows that Phoenix is a mess masquerading as a person, and - and yet. It’s not about Apollo, and what he thinks, so much as it is something for Trucy, figuring out how to build a new family out of the ashes her old one left. The Gramaryes brought Apollo to this law office in some roundabout way, like they sent Trucy to Phoenix. Like Apollo can sometimes manage to think that if Dhurke hadn’t sent him away, he wouldn’t have been there for Clay. Or Trucy. Or anyone else.

“Um, thanks,” he says, and she beams, and though it had already been slipping away, he pushes further aside, for some other far future time, the thought of finding another law office to work at. This one case is not enough to expect he’s being pushed aside. And it would break Trucy’s heart and he doesn’t have enough friends that he can afford to do that. 

“Here, come look at this,” she says, waving him over conspiratorially, the moment passed. “Daddy left this picture out on his desk. He must’ve been thinking about old times, too.”

Apollo joins her at Phoenix’s desk. “What am I looking at?”

“Uncle Larry argues a lot with Daddy and Uncle Miles about whether they look any older than they did back then,” Trucy says, holding out to him a photograph that she brought in earlier. “You can be the impartial judge!”

The three of them still wear the same colors, whenever this photo was taken. Larry shoved off behind the other two - did Apollo know that Phoenix’s flighty artist friend knew Edgeworth? -  wearing an orange suit jacket thrown over what might be a t-shirt. Edgeworth, smiling, and Phoenix, with a golden badge tiny on his lapel. At least eight years ago. Then there’s a taller man in a dark green overcoat off to the right, and to the left, in front of Phoenix and Larry, a girl with long black hair and big, dark eyes, wearing robes almost identical to Pearl’s. “Who’s this?” Apollo asks. 

“That’s Detective Gumshoe,” Trucy says. “He’s one of Uncle Miles’ best friends. They’ve worked together since ever. And that’s Maya, one of Daddy’s friends.”

“Is she—?”

“Yeah.” It’s easy to know the question. “I didn’t know that for a while about her, though. He didn’t say. And she didn’t come around enough for me to notice. Not like Pearly visits us.”

“No?”

Trucy shakes her head. “I met her the day I came to live with him and maybe one or two other times and then - Uncle Miles says she used to be here at the office all the time, helping Daddy with his cases and stuff.”

A fae mentor and why not a fae co-counsel too. “Maybe she got bored after he was disbarred,” Apollo suggests. That sounds fickle enough to be fae rationale. 

“Pearly said they had a huge fight about him being disbarred and stopped talking so much to each other. About how he was handling it or something. I don’t know. I think Pearly said that Maya wanted to help.”

“I don’t think I’d be brave enough to give one of the - the Fair Folk, the silent treatment,” Apollo says. But he’s not sure he could brace himself well enough for the repercussions of accepting their help either, and thinking about all of those leaves him to trip and land on a euphemism for their name instead. Only some days is he brave enough to call them what they are.

“I’m not sure I would either,” Trucy admits. “But Uncle Miles talks like he and Maya got along well enough and he liked her well enough and he never sounds like he’s afraid of her when he’s always very weird about magic stuff and all of Daddy’s… everything.”

Apollo looks back down at the picture, into the face of the fae girl, her smile that looks like a human smile. “Do you think she still looks this age?” he asks. “Do the fae age like people do?” Or is their development slow the way humans growing up in their realm are?

Trucy shrugs. “Pearly seems to age the same as me, but I don’t know if she does that because she has me as a model for how people grow up, or if she actually would like that.”

There in the photo, behind the fae girl, Phoenix isn’t quite as gaunt and hollow in the face, and next to him Edgeworth isn’t wearing glasses, but though Edgeworth is smiling they both look exhausted, like they haven’t slept well in days, like they’ve been ground down to ashes. “I don’t think they look that much older,” Apollo says, tapping the picture, bringing them back to Trucy’s original question. “I mean, they look really tired there, and that’s about the same.”

“Is that what being old means?” she asks, eyes downcast, twisting her fingers together. “Perpetual tiredness?”

“Oh yeah. Once you turn twenty it’s over. It’s just wanting to constantly go back to bed.” Trucy whimpers. “Enjoy the next four years because that’s all you’ve got.”

“Nooo.”

“Oi! Apollo!” He didn’t hear the door open but there’s Athena appearing in the doorway, hollering at him. “Are you being mean to Trucy?”

“She’s always being mean to me!”

Trucy exaggerates her pout even further, fishing for sympathy, but when Phoenix follows Athena in he bursts out laughing. “Mr Nick!” Pearl scolds, and Phoenix jumps, literally jumps, away from her, avoiding her smack on the arm and knocking Athena into her desk. “You can’t be so mean to your own daughter!”

Trucy breaks into a fit of giggles. “Hey, so, Trucy, Apollo,” Athena says, hoisting herself up on her desk and dropping down behind it out of the way of Phoenix and Apollo. “Guess who’s got free lifetime admission to the shipshape aquarium now, and for friends, too!”

“Ooh, I know who you should invite.” Trucy kicks Apollo in the shin. He knows exactly the answer she has in mind. 

“Vera,” he says. 

“Oh you know I bet that would be fun,” Trucy says. “That’s not what I was going to say, also.”

“I know you weren’t.” He can’t really leverage himself to kick her back, so he knocks his shoulder into hers. Phoenix is giving them a weird look - not like he’s mad that Apollo is beating up on Trucy in turn. There’s nothing angry at all. Just kind of fond and kind of sad, and when he notices Apollo’s puzzled expression, his face immediately snaps back to lazy-eyed and closed off, a look Apollo’s seen less and less of in the past few months, but it’s always still there, the poker face underneath everything.

“So the answer is you and Mr Wright,” Apollo says to Athena, “because you’re the ones who defended her, right?”

“Ugh, nein, non, no, no,” Athena says. “I wouldn’t be bragging about it if you weren’t included! Sasha says everyone at the agency, and Pearly too! And whatever friends you want to bring, because I also specifically asked that too!”

Trucy kicks Apollo again. Apollo shakes his head. 

“We’ll all go together sometime!” Athena says brightly. “And I was thinking, y’know, Mr Wright, I’m really glad you let me come on board here. I love working with all of you!”

“I - uh, yeah, of course.” Phoenix definitely was not prepared for that. There’s another weird look on his face, hesitation, and again he smooths it away with a bit of deliberate effort. “Glad to have you.”

“Good not to be the new kid anymore,” Apollo says with a grin, and Athena sticks her tongue out at him. “And Trucy’s probably glad to have two new kids to heckle.”

Trucy kicks him again. 

-

“Really, anyone? Just - whenever I want to come back, I can bring anyone with me?”

“Of course! I don’t know when the Swashbuckler Spectacular will come back, with my health, or anything like that, but you all will be the first ones to know! And your whole office is welcome and anyone you want to bring along, I’ll hold the front row just for you! Because any friend of yours is a friend of mine, Athena.”

“I - yeah, of course. But - thanks. When this is all sorted out, for you guys here and me with - and everything, there’s someone who I always wanted to visit with and never got a chance.”

“Then c’mon! I’ll look forward to meeting them.”

“Y-yeah, heh, I - yeah.”

[thelegendofclarke]

gunlovinhillbilly replied to your post

Opinion of a learned blogger yet not that of an experienced blogger. An overwhelming majority of legal firearms owners have not and will not ever commit crimes. An overwhelming majority of firearms crimes are committed by those that are prevented by law from possessing them. No worries though, they will hire someone that passed the bar exam to get them a light prison sentence….. then will commit more crimes when released. Kinda makes you wonder which is worse.

WOW! Where to even START?!?

An overwhelming majority of legal firearms owners have not and will not ever commit crimes. An overwhelming majority of firearms crimes are committed by those that are prevented by law from possessing them.

You know, my favorite thing about this kind of argument is that it inherently undermines itself. It’s great! You are straight up admitting that firearms are a problem and that our current (nonexistent) gun control measures do nothing to stop them. You are basically saying “we have a problem and our current preventative measures are insufficient so we should just continue to do nothing.” It’s completely illogical, it makes no sense.

If illegal firearm ownership and crime is a problem, shouldn’t we be doing more to prevent people who use them improperly from being able to get their hands on them? Oh naaahhh that would make WAY too much sense. And also, for the record, basically everyone and their mom over the age of 18 is eligible to buy a gun. In some states even convicted felons can own guns. The problem with our current gun control laws and legal restrictive measures is basically that there are none.

No worries though, they will hire someone that passed the bar exam to get them a light prison sentence….. then will commit more crimes when released.

Ok, my dude, listen… Lawyers do more to protect peoples’ constitutional rights in ONE DAY than you will in your entire, ignorant, pathetic little existence.

They make sure an accused individual’s 5th Amendment (No person shall … be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law …) and 14th Amendment ([N]or shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law …) Due Process and Equal Protection rights are respected:

Indictment by a grand jury for capital crimes

Right against double jeopardy

Right against self incrimination

the right to have their guilt proved “beyond a reasonable doubt” by the prosecution

the right to Brady disclosures (requires a criminal conviction to be reversed if the government withholds exculpatory or impeachmentmaterial, within the government’s possession, from the defendant, and there is a reasonable probability that, if such material had been disclosed, the result of the proceeding would have been different)

the right of Mental Competence (a person whose mental condition is such that he lacks the capacity to understand the nature and object of the proceedings against him, to consult with counsel, and to assist in preparing his defense may not be subjected to a trial)

protection from prosecutorial misconduct

protection from selective prosecution on invidious bases

the right to  jury pools and venires represent a “fair cross section” of the community

protection from the discriminatory use of jury peremptory challenges

They are also responsible for ensuring an accused individual’s 6th Amendment rights (Most commonly referred to as The Rights of the Accused? You might have heard of them?) aren’t violated:

the right to an attorney

the right to a speedy trial

the right to a public trial

the right to be tried by an impartial jury of their peers

the right to notice of accusation (the right to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation against him by an indictment that alleges all the elements of the crime to such a degree of precision that it would allow the accused to assert double jeopardy if the same charges are brought up in subsequent prosecution.)

the chance to confront witnesses against them (aka the right to cross examine witnesses against them and challenge their credibility in court)

the right to compulsory process (aka the right to call witnesses in their favor; and if such witnesses refuse to testify, the right to request the power of the court to compel them to do so)

the right to effective assistance of counsel

Also, during the pre-trial process or in the case that an accused individual is in fact convicted, lawyers make sure that their punishment does not violate the 8th Amendment:

the right against excessive bail

the right against excessive fines

the right against cruel and unusual punishment

the right to receive a punishment that is not unconstitutionally excessive and is proportionate to the seriousness of their crime

Also during the pre-trial process, attorneys are tasked with making sure that the government did not violate the accused’s 4th amendment rights while building the case against them. The rights in the 4th Amendment govern over shit that happens before an attorney even started working, or possibly before they even knew about, a case; and yet they are still responsible for them. These constitutional rights guarantee that people be “secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects” include:

protection from unsearchable searches

protection from unreasonable seizures

protection from arrest without probable cause

protection from warrantless searches or seizures

guarantee that any warrant issued is supported by probable cause

protection from evidence obtained through a violation of the 4th Amendment being used against them in court (the Exclusionary Rule)

It’s a defense attorney’s literal job to make sure that the government and the protection did theirs. If we are going to deprive another human being of their property, their liberty, or especially their life, then the government better damn well prove they are guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. So don’t talk to me about not knowing or respecting peoples’ constitutional rights pal. Don’t even try it.

Also, in regards to your claim that criminals “then will commit more crimes when released,” 

You are actually right there… It is literally the only thing you said that was even close to being somewhat correct.

Recidivism rates in the U.S. are in fact staggeringly high… A recent Bureau of Justice Statistic study reported that Within three years of release, about two-thirds (67.8%) of released prisoners were rearrested. Within five years of release, about three-quarters (76.6%) of released prisoners were rearrested. Of those prisoners who were rearrested, more than half (56.7%) were arrested by the end of the first year. However, this has next to nothing to do with lawyers and everything to do with the state of our prison system. 

Prisons in the U.S. are woefully under funded, under staffed, and under resourced. A vast majority of prisoners never receive any kind of rehabilitation, recovery, reintegration, or or re-entry assistance before they are basically just shoved out the door and back into the world with the general population. It’s yet another example of the U.S.’s “lets continue to do nothing about this problem” strategy. Addicts who are arrested for drug crimes receive slightly less than zero therapy or drug rehabilitation assistance while they are in jail. They are not taught and do not learn ANY mechanisms to deal with their addiction and then people are ASTOUNDED when they fall off the wagon again when they are arrested. It makes literally no sense.

Kinda makes you wonder which is worse.

Nah… If you aren’t a completely ignorant idiot sandwich with your head shoved so far up your ass you could lick your own colon, it really shouldn’t.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[postolo]

Fauzia Shakil on her experience on working in Bihar’s Shelter Home Case

We see a lot of girls who are opting law as a career option and taking up law schools but when it comes to litigation and judiciary, we see that the ratio reduces drastically. What are your views on that?

Things are changing now many girls are pursuing a career in litigation. Earlier, I agree the ratio of women in judiciary and litigation was very low but now as we see many young girls from premier law schools are pursuing a career in litigation and I am sure it will get better with time. Of course the charm of a high paid job exists initially but then of course that changes when you realise that maybe the real charm is in litigation. After I quit my job at Amarchand, I went back to Patna High Court and I was litigating there, that was more than 8 years back. So, at that time when I was litigating, there were very few female lawyers and now when I go back to Patna High Court, I am happy to see that there are many female lawyers now. In smaller towns fewer women practice in trail courts mainly because in the past, the mindset was that if somebody did nothing, then they pursued a career in law but that mindset is changing, I am not a pessimist. I am sure things will improve.

2. A brief description about what is happening in the shelter home case?

Under the Juvenile Justice Act, the states are supposed to fund shelter homes which are largely managed by NGOs. These NGOs have to submit periodic reports to the state government.

In the State of Bihar, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) conducted a social audit for these shelter homes and  came up with a report which said that there are 17 shelter homes in Bihar where sexual abuse, physical abuse, and forced prostitution was rampant. The government sat over that report for the longest time, they did not take any action. So, a Public Interest Litigation was filed in the Patna high court and during the pendency of the PIL, the state government transferred the case to CBI. So, Muzaffarpur Shelter Home case started being investigated by CBI. In that PIL, an order was passed which said that there has to be a blanket ban on media reporting on this particular case. My petitioner Nivedita Jha, an accomplished journalist and a social activist filed a petition through me in the Supreme Court, challenging the media ban. The Supreme Court bench comprising Justice Madan Lokur and Justice Deepak Gupta issued notice to the State of Bihar, vacated the media ban order and started monitoring the CBI investigation. The bench asked the CBI to file status report in sealed covers.

At this stage, my petition was only limited to media ban. The CBI had not arrested Brijesh Thakur, the kingpin, and the main person who was running the shelter homes. We informed this to the court and also this that Brijesh Thakur had good terms with the husband (Chandrakeshwar Verma) of Manju Verma, the Cabinet Minister of the Social Welfare Department of the State of Bihar. Brijesh Thakur was subsequently arrested.

A raid was conducted in the house of Manju Verma and illegal arms and ammunition were seized. So, they registered a separate case against Manju Verma and Brijesh Thakur and because of the interference of the Hon’ble Supreme Court, they were arrested subsequently.

Thereafter, I filed another petition in the Supreme Court seeking CBI investigation into the affairs of the 17 other shelter homes that are mentioned in the TISS report. The Supreme Court summoned Chief Secretary of the Bihar Government and asked him about the progress in these 17 shelter homes. The Bihar Government replied that they have registered FIRs in these 17 shelter home cases. So, we made a chart showing the sections under which the Bihar Police had filed the FIRs and the sections under which they should have actually filed the FIR. So they were basically trying to sofr peddle the entire investigation process and, they were trying to file hogwash FIRs for lesser offences to save the high and mighty that were supposedly involved in this case. On the basis of this chart, Supreme Court and it transferred these remaining cases to the CBI as well.  So currently there are 18 Shelter home cases that are being investigated by CBI.

 We thought that with the cases being transferred to CBI everything will be handled well and justice will be done but we soon realised that CBI is doing the same thing as Bihar Police. The Chief Justice transferred the Muzaffarpur Shelter Home case to POCSO Court Saket and directed the POCSO Court Saket to complete the trial within 6 months.

Meanwhile, there were a lot of issues of girls going missing, etc. The amicus had also pointed to the court that these girls are very vulnerable and young, so their rehabilitation is also to be looked into. The court then asked Nimhans, a mental health institute to assist the CBI in investigation and recording the statement of the girls.

In the Muzaffarpur Shelter Home case, these victims are eye witnesses, we should also look at witness protection at some stage. Justice Madan Lokur’s bench had passed an initial order directing that the CBI should specifically investigate 2-3 issues. The bench said that this Brijesh Thakur is a very influential person, his connections and antecedents have to be investigated by CBI. There were lot of newspaper reports and photographs that were published that showed him sitting with Nitish kumar and with a lot of other prominent ministers and bureaucrats of Bihar. Secondly, they also said that Brijesh Thakur’s NGO, the Muzaffarpur Shelter Home and Brijesh Thakur’s Newspaper; even after submission of TISS Report, the Bihar Government continued to give a lot of funding. So the court asked to CBI into look in this matter and find out what was going on. Thirdly, the bench asked the CBI to look into the larger in depth conspiracy in this case. Though the CBI has filed charge sheet against 21 persons, however the investigation is shoddy and a hog wash. The girls in their statements before the police had said that other people used to visit the shelter home, the CBI had to investigate these leads and that who were these “other people” who were “the guests” of Brijesh Thakur, who would come to shelter home to rape them, it was also published in the newspaper that the girls were sent to the houses of bureaucrats to get tenders.

Now, the situation is that in the Muzaffarpur shelter case, CBI has filed charge-sheets against 21 persons under various sections of IPC and POCSO but all these are the office bearers of the NGO, from Brijesh Thakur to the sweeper or the doctor who used to come, even two-three members from the Child Protection Work Unit used to sexually abuse the girls. In the other 16 shelter homes the investigation is still going on under the supervision monitoring of Supreme Court.

These girls are not lesser citizens of this country, we can’t treat them like that and frankly, we as a society owe a duty towards these hapless children. For these children, the state government is supposed to be their parent and it is evident that the state government has failed them; they have been raped by the state’s functionaries. And frankly this is not adversarial litigation, we are all on the same side and we are all trying to get justice for these girls. In this case, where would these children have gone? I am very grateful to the Supreme Court to have interfered in this matter. If it wouldn’t have been for the Supreme Court, the Bihar police would have shoved it under the carpet like any other case. I am extremely disappointed by the way the investigating agencies have worked in this case. The Supreme Court had also said that the main investigating officer, S.K. Sharma should not be transferred but CBI transferred him. Then the Chief Justice took cognizance and asked Nageshwar Rao, who was then the CBI chief to come to court and explain as to why a contempt notice should not be issued against him. Dissatisfied with the explanation, the Supreme Court initiated contempt proceeding against Nageshwar Rao.

3. What can be the solution for problems (delayed proceedings, the influence of politics, lack of knowledge, etc.)  faced by the middle class and lower strata citizens in access to justice?

Multi pronged approach is necessary. For increasing access to justice for the lower and middle income groups, I believe that free or discounted good quality legal aid services should be provided. In additional to a Legal Aid Society, Supreme Court also has a Middle Income Group Legal Aid Society where good quality legal aid is provided at affordable rates to litigants whose gross income does not exceed ?60,000 per month or ?7.5 lakh per annum. Most High Courts also have similar schemes. The problem is that people are not aware. Awareness of these schemes has to be increased.

Our courts are extremely over burdened. The volume of cases that are handled by our courts is higher than any other court in the world. While it is correct that civil and criminal trials take years and with appeals and revisions before higher courts, the entire process takes decades and at the end of the process, the litigant is left disillusioned. This problem can be solved by increasing the number of trial court judges, filling of existing vacancies, providing better infrastructure and facilities to them.

Interviewed by Syed Haroon. He is currently in his first year pursuing B.A.LLB (Hons.) from Faculty of Law; Jamia Millia Islamia; New Delhi. He is also the student ambassador at SCC Online.

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[capitolchronicle-blog]

Judicial Analysis

The Judicial case this year is labeled Ronald Williams v. John E. Wetzel. The issue presented is that of the use of solitary confinement in an unusual circumstance.

   The plaintiff, Ronald Williams, is currently held in solitary confinement. John E. Wetzel is the defendant, for he is in charge of the agency that enforces the statutes against Ronald Williams.

   Ronald Williams was convicted of first degree murder and the jury decided on the death sentence for him. The sentence held through in the PA Supreme Court (all death sentences are reviewed by the state’s Supreme Court) and the governor issued and set an execution date. Under Pennsylvania law, death row is solitary confinement.

   Williams then made an attempt to save himself. He first used the Pennsylvania Post Conviction Act (“PCRA”). This statute allows for him to dispute his conviction and sentence. The PCRA court ruled that Ronald Williams was still guilty, but he will be given a new penalty phase that will either result in a re-sentence to death or life imprisonment, in which he would receive no parole. Nonetheless, Williams did appeal the decision given by the PCRA court and he will not redeem a new sentencing hearing until his appeal is reviewed and decided.

   William has been in solitary confinement since 2012 and it will still be a few years until the appeal is decided upon. It is the policy of the DOC to keep him in solitary confinement and not move him into the general population until he his possibly re-sentenced to something other than the death sentence.

   Wanting to be allowed back into the general population, Williams made two separate claims. He first claims that the Pennsylvania statute that governs imprisonment on death row allows him to be released from solitary confinement, when in actuality, it does the exact opposite, and is keeping him there.

   Secondly, Ronald Williams claims that keeping him in solitary confinement on death row after his death sentence has been abandoned is in violation of the Due Process Clause of the United States Constitution. Since Williams was convicted of first degree murder and a sentence had been placed, he lost some of the liberty that’s usually protected by the Due Process Clause. For something to be done for a prisoner showing that they have liberty protected by the Due Process Clause, they must exhibit that their living conditions are causing for a nonconforming and atypical prison life. This is what Williams attempted to argue, but the DOC did not see it the same way.

   Nothing was done because the court of common pleas denied both of Williams’ claims. Even with this, it is prohibited for Ronald Williams to be moved out of solitary confinement at this time.

   With the multiple fails of Ronald Williams, he now is to appeal to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

     From a very young age, children are taught to spend time alone and reflect upon their behavior after acting out or causing a disturbance; whether it’s being sent to their rooms, the corner, or even detention as they grow older, it is generally accepted that this form of punishment is a key element in developing boundaries.

     In fact, much doesn’t change as these same children become adults. Solitary confinement remains as a widely-used correctional technique in which disobedient inmates are limited to a cell that usually averages six by ten feet. Many stays continue on for days, weeks, months, and in some cases, even years.

It proves to be a heavy topic of debate, with some swearing by effectiveness in maintaining order within prisons, and others diving into the ethical concerns associated with such punishment. That being said, let’s touch on just a few of the main areas of discussion:

1)    Solitary confinement protects others from prisoners that may be classified as dangerous. Just as the initial jailing of these people is justifiable by the acts they’ve committed to pose a threat to society, prisoners who refuse to conform to the rules of their environment place all surrounding inmates at risk. Separating those who provoke this type of risk can potentially benefit the overall safety of the general prison population.

2)    It protects these prisoners from surrounding inmates who may harm them for their crimes.  Those who may have been involved in  pedophilia and sexual assault crimes are at an especially high risk of attack and even murder at the hands of fellow inmates. Solitary confinement not only has the ability to shield the majority of inmates from this prisoner, but the prisoner from the other inmates; increased security makes it more difficult to harm those punished.

3)    It ensures order within prisons. Without some means of further consequence for those who continue to disobey laws while imprisoned, there would most likely be mass chaos. The looming threat of solitary confinement itself may also potentially motivate prisoners to follow orders and stay out of trouble so as to avoid it.

4)    Solitary confinement infringes on one’s basic human rights. In a solitary cell, a  prisoner’s every move is usually monitored by guards using security cameras and other electronic processes, stripping them of their privacy. Additionally, some consider solitary confinement to be a form of torture as an inmate’s mental and emotional health is put at jeopardy.

5)    Solitary confinement leads to severe emotional and mental health disorders. Many who have gone through solitary confinement have admitted to experiencing hallucinations, paranoia, and even schizophrenia as a result of no human interaction. Self-destructive behavior has also been reported among those who feel as though they had lost their grip on reality while in confinement.

6)    It does not provide legitimate evidence of rehabilitation. The main goals of solitary confinement, to reflect on oneself and strive to do better are often forgotten in the process of simply trying to pass time as much as possible. The average rehabilitation stages are usually achieved through interacting with the surrounding world, a luxury that is deprived once confined.

In conclusion, while some believe the the benefits or risks of this punishment far outweigh the opposite, solitary confinement remains common in prisons across the world. Certain laws have been passed in the U.S. to regulate it and ensure it doesn’t get too out of hand, but it is currently still legal in all states. Whether one supports it or not solely depends on informing themselves on the topic and developing an educated opinion from there.

[flauntpage]

Transcript: Bryan Colangelo (and JJ Redick) on Markelle Fultz

With respect to the Sixers organization, Bryan Colangelo’s Friday availability was 75% non-answer, 15% useful information, and 10% off-topic questions from media members who missed the point.

Because the only topic of the day should have been Markelle Fultz, and what exactly is going on with the rookie’s bum shoulder.

In the interest of context, I’ll post the full transcript here, but first some bullet points:

Colangelo says they still don’t know how the shoulder injury happened.

There’s no timeline for a return. Colangelo would not rule Fultz out for the season, but said he may or may not play, which answers nothing.

He reiterated that Fultz has to relearn his mechanics as a result of the shoulder injury.

It seems to me like Fultz’s agent and his people are still at odds with the team, especially based on the TNT interview Fultz did the other night that apparently was organized without the Sixers’ public relations staff.

Anyway, here’s the transcript. I took out the bullshit questions about the trade deadline and anything not concerning Markelle’s injury:

Is there a chance that Markelle Fultz gets shut down for the season?

Colangelo: “There’s always a chance that he’s going to be out there soon and there’s a chance that he’s not going to play this year. I can’t answer that question because we don’t know the answer to that. Markelle’s doing great, he’s progressing well. He’s doing things on the basketball court that appear a natural display of his talents and basketball instincts and he’s continuing to progress. Markelle had an injury as you all are aware. That injury led to a lack of muscle control and coordination of his muscles. And through physical therapy and strength and conditioning, and now increasing basketball activities, he’s regaining his form with respect to every aspect of his preparedness to play. Whether it’s the physical component, the shot mechanics, everything. And when he’s ready and we feel he’s ready and the situation is ripe for him to succeed, then we’ll put him out there. But until then, I don’t have a timeline for you.“

Has he been medically cleared?

Colangelo: “Don’t get confused with the terminology, let’s be very clear. Back when he had an MRI, there was nothing that was indicated on the MRI that showed any structural damage. He was still struggling as you know and we shut him down. We further reviewed his case and tried to dive deeper, and we found that there was a scapular injury that was causing the breakdown. So that is what is being dealt with, that is why he’s going through a long and difficult recovery, and that’s what he’s working on. You can’t confuse medical clearance and being ready to play basketball. Like I said, he’s doing great. He’s coming along, he’s doing some great things in terms of his growth. Physically, I think he’s in better shape than he was coming into the season because he’s been working so hard. He’s literally retraining his shooting mechanics right now. And like I said, outside of perhaps perimeter shooting, he’s doing some things on the basketball court in the limited basketball practice activity that he’s taking place in and that he’s participating in, and he’s dazzling in many ways. But when he’s going to be ready to help this team and be ready, I can’t give you a timeline.”

Why is he not ready right now? 

Colangelo: “Like I said, he’s retraining his shooting mechanics, he’s retraining his muscle movement patterns, all those things. And that’s the part of this that is a little bit of an unknown for us, and for our medical team. There’s no timeline, per say, but I do know he’s working hard and he’s doing a lot of great things on the basketball court, and we hope to see him this year. If not we will wait until he’s ready to participate, and help, and put him in a position to succeed. And that’s going to be a determination that’s made at some point in the future.”

Is there a cut-off date to come back?

Colangelo: “I don’t think we’ve discussed that. I don’t think that it’s something that is a good question. Is there a time where he can be integrated into what we’re doing. I would say that through the time that he has spent with the coaching staff in video sessions, and strategic conversations, conversations on strategy, excuse me, and the integration with the team in various drills, and even some 5-on-5 competitive components of practice, I don’t think it’s going to be a tough integration. Someone of Markelle’s talent and ability, it comes naturally. There’s enough familiarity with the rest of the team that it’s not going to be a difficult transition.” 

How much of the retraining is due to repetitions with a personal trainer over the summer?

Colangelo: “That’s really a question that I can’t answer. We don’t know the answer to that. We don’t know what the cause of the injury was. There was an indication from the doctor in Kentucky that it was, perhaps, based on overuse, and maybe what I’ll call irregular motion and that’s what we said at the time. We don’t know if it was working on the shot that led to the soreness, or the soreness that led to working on the shot. But the fact of the matter is that sometime in August the injury occurred, and now we’re dealing with the consequences of that. Again, Markelle was drafted here because of his elite talent and his ability to play the game at an elite level, and we have every confidence that he’s going to return to that.”

What can’t he do that you need him to be able to?

Colangelo: “I answered that question already.”

Why is he being taken out of conditioning drills?

Colangelo: “I don’t know that he’s being taken out of conditioning drills, per se. He’s taken out of various drills in practice situations, in practice settings, where he either is not able to continue or where there are situations that are situations that are more conducive for the players that are actually playing the games, meaning we have to prepare for opponents and we have to go through things that the active roster has to participate in. There are occasional moments where he is still continuing to fight through the physical fatigues of some of the rehabilitation activity. Again, a lot of physiotherapy, intensive strength and conditioning, a lot of increase in basketball activity.”

How much of Markelle’s issues are mental? 

Colangelo: “Mental preparedness and overcoming an injury is part of any athlete, especially an elite athlete overcoming a debilitating injury. It’s been proven in studies that it is a big component. All you have to do is talk to Ben or Joel about what they went through from a mental component, overcoming injuries and stepping back onto the court. But we’re talking about a situation where someone is relearning how to shoot a basketball and that was one of his elite skill sets and that’s got to be frustrating. But overall I think he’s making great strides in every capacity and we’re going to see a better Markelle Fultz because of it.​”

Does he need to be able to make a jump shot from a certain distance?

Colangelo: “No. I think he’s got to feel right and we’ve got to feel right and when it all comes together he’ll be out there playing. He may even get out there before that. What I see him do instinctively, drives in the lane, spin, dribbles, rise up, pull up, everything within a certain range, it’s beautiful. It’s coming, and he’s going to get more and more comfortable and as he gets more and more comfortable I’m sure he’ll start to step out on the perimeter.”

What’s the range now?

Colangelo: “It’s within the paint basically. Paint shots. Perimeter shots are where you kind of draw a line. Anything thing instinctive, going to the hole. We talked about shot creation and some of the rise ups. It’s nice to see. It’s nice to see it coming along the way it is.”

Have you ever experienced anything like this with a high draft pick? 

Colangelo: I personally have not seen this injury in basketball, but I’ve seen it in baseball a lot. This is obviously an injury like any other injury, so whether it’s a fracture, or a scapular injury, it’s all the same. There’s a time and recovery period that you need to go through, and Markelle is going through that right now. 

On the difference between rehabbing the shoulder injury and relearning mechanics – is this two different issues?

Colangelo: I don’t think so at all. They’re really two in the same and they’re related. Again, it was a breakdown in muscle function and coordination. Once you get that back, which is not fully back when you’re going through this recovery and rehabilitation. You’re also simultaneously trying to retrain what those movement patterns were where you can shoot a basketball. There have been some limitations for some time and he’s getting through it. Again, there’s a long recovery. It’s taken probably longer than anyone had hoped or imagined. But again, he’s making progress and headway and I fully anticipate that he’ll be out there doing what he does so well, which is scoring the basketball and creating for with others and impacting our team in a positive way, hopefully in the near future.”

  After the presser, we went out to see if Markelle was working at shoot around, which he was.

Two video clips:

Markelle Fultz at shoot around: pic.twitter.com/UoLUctHKrw

— Kevin Kinkead (@Kevin_Kinkead) February 9, 2018

More Markelle: pic.twitter.com/nG1RKDoiO4

— Kevin Kinkead (@Kevin_Kinkead) February 9, 2018

When we walked into the gym, JJ Redick looked super annoyed with the spread of media who immediately began shooting video of Markelle.

“He’s only 19,” Redick said to himself. He obviously wasn’t enthused with the pattern of sharing clips like the ones above.

So I asked him at availability if it was something he was interested in talking about:

“Yea, I mean, it is annoying,” Redick said. “The guy’s 19, he’s working his ass off. I understand that fans want to see his progress, but this is maybe gonna be a longer process than we all hoped for. (Whether he’s on the court soon or not), obviously that’s not my thing. I don’t get the coming in here every day to watch him shoot pull-up jumpers. It’s a little obsessive.”

I don’t disagree with JJ, I really don’t. Nobody gets into the business to shoot video clips of rehabbing players, but if we could talk to Markelle himself and actually ask him what happened, we would do it.

It is what it is. They painted themselves into a corner.

  Transcript: Bryan Colangelo (and JJ Redick) on Markelle Fultz published first on https://footballhighlightseurope.tumblr.com/

[nbafunnymeme]

NBA Rumors: Unpacking Kawhi, Kevin Love, Lillard and More

Every now and then the NBA produces a news cycle that reminds the whole world that basketball is the best, weirdest and most entertaining sport on the planet. The past 24 hours have done just that. It began with whispers of Kawhi discord coming from San Antonio, it kicked into high gear with the Bucks’ toppling of the Jason Kidd statue in Milwaukee, and then we were off. Then: Kevin Durant was taking shots at Clint Capela, Kevin Love was defending himself in team meetings, John Wall was losing to the Mavericks and getting roasted by J.J. Barea, DeAndre Jordan wasn’t on the Clippers bench, Michael Jordan was refuting trade rumors, Damian Lillard was having fireside chats with a billionaire, and … it was a great run.

For posterity’s sake, and for the sake of any well-adjusted adults out there who don’t live their lives checking Twitter every 90 seconds, let’s run through the biggest highlights.

Kawhi Leonard is becoming distant

So here’s where the day began. Around noon Monday, Adrian Wojnarowski, Michael C. Wright, and Zach Lowe contributed to the following report:

Months of discord centering on elements of treatment, rehabilitation and timetables for return from a right quadriceps injury have had a chilling impact on San Antonio Spurs star Kawhi Leonard’s relationship with the franchise and coaching staff, league sources told ESPN.

Under president and coach Gregg Popovich and general manager RC Buford, the Spurs have a two decades-long history of strong relationships with star players, but multiple sources describe Leonard and his camp as “distant” and “disconnected” from the organization.

That report included a fairly strong denial from Spurs GM RC Buford—”There is no issue between the Spurs organization and Kawhi”—so take that for what you will. San Antonio has been the most successful organization in the league over the past 20 years, but we’re coming off 18 months of rumors that Lamarcus Aldridge was unhappy, all of which were denied vehemently by the Spurs themselves. Then a few weeks ago, Gregg Popovich emerged to more or less confirm every rumor we’d heard about the LaMarcus relationship the past two years.

Now: Does this mean Kawhi is going to request a trade and/or join Twitter to start tweeting cryptic things about his future? Probably not. It’s possible, even likely, that this is a case of everyone being frustrated while the injury resolves itself, and everything will be fine once Kawhi is playing again. But it’s worth monitoring. Leonard is one of the five or six best players in the league. While the entire sport obsesses over the futures of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Anthony Davis, both of whom are under contract for several more years, Kawhi is more accomplished than either one and is a free agent at the end of next season. And he might be frustrated in San Antonio?

The Kawhi injury situation was already one of the strangest stories of the season—no one in the NBA knows what’s happening, why he’s missed this much time, or when he might get back to 100%—and thanks to ESPN’s report it just became even more strange.

Jason Kidd is done in Milwaukee

The Bucks have lost six of eight games, they got drilled by the 76ers over the weekend, and that was the end of the line for Jason Kidd in Milwaukee. He will be remembered for baffling lineup decisions and end-of-game strategies that defied basic math:

I wrote about Kidd’s role earlier in the season. Aside from the funny end-of-game decisions that drove Twitter crazy, this was the right move because Kidd’s limits made the future murkier for the entire team.

A coach who ignores lineup data and basic math is generally betraying a broader lack of intellectual curiosity, and that was certainly true with Kidd, who remained inflexible in his philosophy on both ends of the floor. And a bad coach makes everything more complicated. By failing to optimize the talent on hand, he makes it tougher for the front office to gauge what their roster really has, and what they need. That was the Bucks for the past few years—now they have another few months to make a run with interim coach Joe Prunty, and they’ll begin a search for a new coach this summer. With Giannis under contract until 2021, they’ll have no shortage of suitors.

Speaking of Giannis, in the immediate aftermath of the firing we were hit with reports that the Bucks superstar was crestfallen when he heard the news.

Jason Kidd may have been ham–fisted as a head coach, but he is Sun Tzu when it comes to managing the media.

Kevin Durant accidentally dunks on himself

It’s unfair to pretend that KD has an easy job in Golden State. He’s great on defense for the Warriors, and he’s a killer on offense, and he’s one of the 30 greatest players of all time. So, no shots at KD, at least from me. But it’s pretty funny to imagine how many team groupchats around the NBA must have included this tweet yesterday. There had to have been at least 10 rosters roasting him at once. Granted, all of those teams will eventually be vaporized by the Warriors on the court, but that was a given all along. On Monday afternoon, Spiderman memes won the day.

Speaking of losing to the Warriors …

The Cavs had a team meeting

LeBron James is settling in nicely to the “Puff Daddy in Making the Band“ phase of his career on the Cavs, and it sounds like he decided to shut down the studio with the Cavs this weekend. Kevin Love was the target of his ire this time, because apparently the solution to not giving up 148 points to the Thunder (!!) would’ve been adding Love’s defense to the mix. I don’t know. It’s very possible that LeBron is leaving this summer, but for now he wants a sugar cookie, so somebody better make it happen.

John Wall gets roasted by JJ Barea

Wall, who is coming off a dysfunctional team meeting of his own, has been in the midst of a season-long tribute to the late-90s and early-2000s NBA, a version of the league in which players were less professional, didn’t take care of themselves in the offseason, and routinely signed massive contracts only to watch their game fall off a cliff. Monday night was just another chapter for Wall—it included a loss to the Mavericks and a classless shot at the point guard who outplayed him, before Barea responded with a blow that is deadly because it certainly seems accurate at the moment.

Wolf season is not going well. 

Meanwhile, in Charlotte

Kemba trade?! And then in Los Angeles…

What are the Clippers doing with DeAndre Jordan? 

This is a great example of how the internet has turned basketball news into a drug. A fan’s rangom interaction goes viral, a team blog provides context that adds the requisite layers of intrigue, and everyone else gets to spend the rest of the night driving themselves crazy trying to interpret what’s happening here.

For what it’s worth: DeAndre Jordan signed an agent earlier this year, presumably because he’s looking to secure his future either in L.A. or elsewhere. He can opt out of his contract this summer, or he could opt-in, making him a free agent in 2019. He hasn’t played since suffering a sprained ankle 10 days ago, but the injury was supposed to be minor. Before this season, Jordan had missed five games in five years. Are you sure he’s hurt? Are the Clippers holding him out because of trade talks? Did “nine f—ing years” mean nothing, or did Blake just tell that fan everything? Read the tea leaves!

Kawhi Leonard’s Uncle Weighs In

From the San Antonio Express-News:

Disputing a report from ESPN, that described Leonard and his camp as “distant” and “disconnected” from the team, Leonard’s uncle, Dennis Robertson, says there is no tension between the two parties. “There is nothing true to that story,” Robertson told the Express-News hours after the story published. “Kawhi’s camp and the Spurs are how they’ve always been – doing the right thing for the team and the right thing for Kawhi.”

It was a strange day.

Michael Jordan Weighs In

From Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer:

“It’s not like we are shopping him. We would not just give him up. I love Kemba Walker. I would not trade him for anything but an All-Star player.”

[…]

“Hopefully, Coach is going to turn the season around,” Jordan said of Clifford, in his fifth season overseeing this team.

“I certainly haven’t given up on our best player. He’s done a hell of a job of turning himself into an All-Star.”

OK, then.

What did Damian Lillard say to Paul Allen?

The last time I read a story about Paul Allen, his mega-yacht had destroyed 80% of a 14,000 square-foot coral reef in the Cayman Islands. Before that, there was the time his helicopter had to make L as Allen was on his way to explore Antarctica. Per ESPN’s Chris Haynes, Allen attended his first Blazers game of the year last Thursday, at which point he and Lillard spent an hour talking about the direction of the Blazers, mistakes made with Will Barton, and the options for both player and owner going forward. So, there you go. The more you know.

Did you see Boogie Cousins Monday night?

40, 20, and 10. 

LeBron James saw Boogie Cousins Monday night

And that’s where we end. Great 24 hours of basketball news. Now the trade deadline is two weeks away, the Cavs play the Spurs on TNT Tuesday night, and… actually, wait: 

Kobe Bryant was nominated for an Oscar this morning

That’s where we end. Congrats to Kobe Bryant on his Oscar nomination. 

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