Court Watch Observations of Sister JoAnn

As usual the participants in the courtroom were Judge Katsevalis, the prosecuting attorney, clerk, and translator.  Several cases had lawyers for the detainee and at least two families.  The court watchers were Sister Pat Murphy, RSM, Sister JoAnn Persch, RSM and Tony Olivo from the Chicago Tribune.

The first issue occurred when a lawyer was told that his case would not be heard.  He was visibly upset and when the judge appeared he shouted out asking why.  The judge said that he made a decision without a hearing.  The lawyer approached another attorney and asked her for her card as a witness to this event.

In one case the lawyer had not received the appropriate papers and could therefore not set up a teleconference.  The lawyer seemed unprepared and ineffective. The second case had a lawyer who was better prepared.  The judge granted a bond of $5,000 and made clear that the person had to appear for all hearings. There were several other cases with lawyers, but all were continued.

The next part was the most disturbing.  The others that day came in groups.  Our concern was with the attitude of the judge and the translator. First the detainees were asked to raise their right  hands.  In one group someone must have had their left hand up.  The judge shouted at him and then someone else must have put their hand down.  Again, shouting. The judge asked each member of the group if they wanted a lawyer or deportation.  When he asked “Do you want a lawyer?” they would respond “si” or “no”.  It was evident that they did not have time to think.  Some would say “si” and then change their mind or vice versa.  The judge was extremely impatient – actually shouting at them for changing their mind. If they wanted  deportation he asked a few if they wanted “voluntary deportation”.  One man said yes, but then realized he had to pay for plane fare and changed his mind.  The judge shouted at him told him he can’t keep changing his mind.  Another man wanted to ask a question and was told he could not – “I ask the questions”. We just felt that Judge Katsevalis needs a break.

We have seen the translator many times before, but this time we were concerned.  He seemed quite apathetic and sort of mumbled the questions and the answers.  In the past he had seemed much more compassionate. He might have had a bad night, or didn’t feel well, but he was not doing the detainees a favor.

What disturbed us most was that it was so obvious that the detainees had no preparation for the hearing and were expected to make life decisions in one second.