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On Thursday November 7th, a friend and I went to King County Family Court on Jay Street. We asked the officers at the front desk where to go if we wanted to hear a court proceeding for a class, and we were directed to the 8-10 floors. After going through the metal detectors, I was asked about a suspicious electronic object in my bag which turned out to be my calculator, while simultaneously my friend was being asked about a suspicious object in her bag which apparently looked like a knife but it only a mini stapler. After explaining to the  Court officer on the 10th floor that we wanted to see a court proceeding that was “exciting” we were brought to the 8th floor into part 19 and waited very shortly until a proceeding begun. At 2:30 we were directed into the courtroom. At 2:32:52 Plaintiff Bawa and his mother entered the courtroom, Bawa was sworn in, and he stated his case. His reason for bringing his case was in July of 2019 his wife, the mother of his child, took their daughter to Sri Lanka. Three months later in September when the mother and daughter were supposed to return, the mother decided she wanted to stay. The judge asked if they lived together previously and he stated that yes they had. The judge informed him that he had the right to an attorney. P. Bawa then stated that he wanted to represent himself. The judge asked about his wages and told him that he was fit to have an attorney appointed him. Bawa was then escorted out of the courtroom to see if an attorney was currently available to represent him. The case ended at 2:36:13. The Court Officer then goes over the case with us. This case was  known as the Hague Convention.The Hague Convention provides an expeditious method to return a child internationally abducted by a parent from one member country to another. After finishing the report, my partner and I witnessed a man becoming loud with the other court officers in art 21 of the court. It was later explained that he frequently came to the courthouse. He came about his child by the ACS and it was under false accusations. 

 All in all my experience with the court was very interesting and gave me a better understanding of how court cases can proceed. 

I went to the queens county civil court the experience was good overall . I like how I got the opportunity to observe a proceeding . So I asked the clerks and said there was proceedings taking place . It was about tenants who were suing there landlord  over lead contaminating the running the water of there apartment . There was arguments between both parties and ultimately the plaintiff won the case. This really made sense for the plaintiff to win the case as lead in  water  was totally unacceptable and I agreed with the judges decision.  I really liked my experience has the Queens County Civil Law Court .

Hi my name is jessica and i have arrived at the kings county civil court today november 12th 2019 at 940 am. When i came into the court the lines was very long downstairs at the lobby and also had to get checked by security with court officers. After i got checked in i spoke with a court officer on where i need to go for court observation and was told to go to the 4th floor. I went to fourh floor and went into the civil clerk office and was told to go to one of the court rooms in the same floor. I went to room 405 on which handles la dlord tenant trial cases .i spoke to a court officer in the room explain im there for court observation as a law student and let me sat upfront to hear the cases. One case was when a tenant was suiling the landlord for tramatizing her emotionally and abadoned children at one of the apartments in the landlord building. The judge was concerned about her health and send her to a program to get mental health and pushed it for another courtdate. After when i seen in how judges make decisions in civil court us fair and listen to both sides on the case. It was a great experience to be apart of today.

 On thursday november 7th it was my first time at a court and seeing a live hearing. The case that caught my attention was bos vs edgar. The plaintiff bos was suing this third party agency that books international flights for 449.00 USD. The reason was because the plaintiff wanted a flight from january 8th to august the 31st. Which the defendant failed to do instead a flight of january 8th to june 26th was made. When the defendant addressed the agency he was promised a change to august 31st free of charge. After arriving to its destination months later the plaintiff made calls to the defendant about the flight change where the defendant did not answer many calls were made and never picked up. After months of the plaintiff’s wife going after the defendant after making excuses that he was busy he came to the conclusion that there must be a fee to be paid in order to change the flight because it was too late. The plaintiff brought papers of evidence citing the phone calls and the new flight of 449.00 USD which his wife had to pay off with her credit card. A new flight was bought because the plaintiff wouldn’t pay what the defendant the difference he was asking for after being promised a flight change free of charge. The judge said he had enough from both sides and came to the conclusion of the defendant owing 449.00 USD to the plaintiff because the defendant was the one who made a promise and also was the one who made the mistake of booking the wrong date giving the defendant 15 days to pay back 449.00 USD.This proceeding relates to what we learned in class because a plaintiff was involved which is the person who is suing. Also the defendant took place here and this is the person who is being sued. I saw that the court of claims had jurisdiction over this case since it was under 5,000 USD. This observation made me realize that court scenes on TV are so dramatic. Also it gave me more interest in studying law I enjoyed listening to these cases I personally thought it was a fun experience.  The cases today were regular things you can get fixed verbally without going to court if we all played nice with each other. Also Isaw how judges can have common sense but not pity over the people who come to these proceedings.

On Monday November 3rd 2019 I Aisse Tounkara observed a civil trial at New York Civil court located at 111 Centre Street. The tenant is suing the landlord due to the fact that a young child who resides in the apartment has lead poisoning in her blood due to the negligence of NYCHA. It was a very interesting trial. Both sides got to argue their case I guess. I observed other proceedings as well. I learned a lot. When I first walked into the courthouse I was lost but I asked one of the court personal and they told me the correct room to go to. From there multiple proceedings were happening.