“When Humanity Enters the Courtroom”

-Daniel Jeon

My first time entering a courtroom was an event of special significance. As an intern, I had the opportunity to accompany the team to Cleveland to attend a court hearing regarding the termination of a client’s case. The client had been in prison for minor driving penalties. The client’s child had been living in foster care during the time she was in prison, ripping this family apart. 

On the way to court, we were told other people would be there in support of the client. I thought it would be a handful of supporters. When we arrived, over 20 people were present in support of our client. 

As we filed into the courtroom, the benches for spectators could not hold all of us. I was amazed by the amount of support being shown to a person whom many of these people had never even seen before. For us in support, this was not just a case of an immigrant but a case of a mother who was suffering and just wanted to reunite with their child.

It was telling how in the courtroom we brought rows of people in support, while the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”) attorney tuned in online for a case about the future of a young family. The representative for DHS, on Zoom, looked uninterested with a cheesy greenscreen showing the DHS logo. 

It baffled me that those in DHS are willing to ruin a family with their work, but still tune into court to do that work with the most disinterested manner possible. It's telling that helping asylum seekers is not a political statement but rather a statement of how human you are. It felt as if we were there in support against an inhuman evil. 

Near the end of our time in the courtroom, the camera that showed the courtroom to our client, who was in jail, turned and showed all the supporters who had come. We all waved: a show of support against an unfair system that wants innocence to lose. 

A few weeks later, we were told that our client had been released from prison. Personally I had done little on this case specifically for her release. However, I felt a sense of pride that I was among those who supported this woman to get out of jail and eventually reunite with her son. Unfortunately, others do not get a great result from their cases, and many, even if they do “win,” still have strings attached. The system is unfairly set against the common person seeking asylum. That is why I believe the support shown was so special. In a system where they want you to lose, there is still a way to fight for what you believe is right.