Thread by @BillForry

I went to Dorchester Court yesterday to cover a murder arraignment, something I've done several times over the years in my role as a reporter/editor. Afterwards, I decided to seek out and observe the First Session, where the presiding judge is Hon. Serge Georges. (Thread)

I'd been thinking a lot recently about the back-and-forth debate surrounding the new DA Rachael Rollins and Gov. Baker's critique of her memo around criminal justice reform, etc. It was in that context that I wanted to sit-on Judge George's courtroom for a while and just observe.

Judge Georges is an accomplished jurist and a Dorchester native who has presided over Drug Diversion court. I know him to be a fair, just and compassionate presence on the bench. I was reminded of that yesterday as I watched him preside in Dorchester.

I was particularly struck by his interaction with a young man, 22, who was brought before him for a parole violation. I was moved to write about it here: dotnews.com/columns/2019/d… but I'm going to tweet it here too...

On Tuesday morning, the 22-year-old man shuffled his way to a podium inside Dorchester District Court’s First Session. His legs were in iron shackles, his hands in cuffs. Dressed in a t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers, he had come to court from a holding cell just out of site.

In 2016, he had been convicted of a break-and-entering with intent to commit a felony for which he spent part of a two year- sentence in prison. He had been on probation ever since.

On Tuesday, he was brought in front of a judge to explain why he hadn’t been living up to his end of the bargain. He’d missed screenings for drug and alcohol tests and he had failed to check in with his probation officer.

Fortunately for the defendant— and his family— the judge who was hearing his case this time is the Honorable Serge Georges, chief justice at the Dorchester District Court.

Stephen Novick, the defense attorney for the young man, stepped forward on his behalf to explain that the man’s parents, who live in Dorchester, were in the court to vouch for their son.

“He’s a good boy, very respectful,” his mother told the judge after he invited her to say a few words. But, she said, he’d been living with his girlfriend in Malden lately, away from her watch. She said he had promised her that he will stay at home going forward.

Judge Georges looked grim as he took several minutes to digest a police report of the man’s original offense. “Young man, what do you want to do with your life?” he asked when he was finished reading. “Do you want to want to be the person in this report? What do you want to do?”

The young man looked down and then muttered, “I want to be successful.”
Georges looked at his parents and then back at the young man.
“What’s your culture?”
“Haitian” was the quick reply.

“Haitian,” said the judge.
“Then you know how hard people had to work for you to be here. What they went through as a country.”
I’m Haitian, too, Georges told the young man.
So is the court officer.
The probation officer.
Another attorney sitting in the gallery. All Haitians.

“Do you think about your parents at all when you’re out doing whatever you want?” the judge demanded. “You know, you have to work hard to be successful. You have to be able to tell yourself ‘no.’
"Discipline!” Georges said with a Kreyol accent.

He continued: “I’m proudly from this neighborhood. I grew up on Hancock Street, in Kane Square. This is a great neighborhood. But I didn’t get here without my friends and family. Some of the people who are my closest friends today were my closest friends when I was 14-15-20-21-22

"They were my support system, along with my parents. If you’re hanging out with people right now who don’t care about you, you’ve got to say goodbye. Now. You’ve got to be smart enough to let them be the past," Judge Georges said...

"Because if you’re back in front of me again, I’ll do the only thing I have left to do, and that’s put you back in jail.”

The judge paused, then said, “But I’m not going to send you back to jail. You’re still a kid. You’re 22, but you’re a kid. We are going to make sure you are moving on the right track.”

At that, Georges advised that the court would stand in a brief recess. When he returned ten minutes later, he presented a new directive: The young man would be going home with a GPS bracelet to monitor his whereabouts around the clock.

He would have to adhere to a strict curfew — 8 p.m. to 7 a.m., seven days a week. If he were to get a job that requires an adjustment to the hours, they can be adjusted.

There was one final condition: Judge Georges wants him to visit him at Dorchester Court once a month for the duration of his probationary period, which will now extend an additional year.
“You are going to come see me and we’re going to see how you’re doing,” said the judge.
-30-

This is one vignette from Dorchester District Court. For me, it served as a reminder that there are scores of stories like this one every day at the courthouse involving real people and their families— and men and women who are making really difficult decisions about their fate.

As a footnote: I deliberately left the defendant's name out of this article, because if Judge Georges' strategy works—he doesn't need to be immortalized on a search engine as another hurdle to success. I wish him well.