I used to spend every weekend with my Aunt Beverly.
We sat around on Saturday and watch reruns of Law & Order.
My aunt never left the living room, unless she had to pee or grab a can of Pepsi. I watched every episode of Law & Order, and I have probably seen each one 5 or 10 times. I always thought the television show depicted exactly what happens in the courtroom and in the police department. When my son was arrested for petty theft, I found out that the court is nothing like the television shell. My son didn’t qualify for a court-appointed lawyer, because my income was too high. It was difficult to find a criminal lawyer to take the case, because I didn’t have a lot of money. I found someone cheap, but I had to remind them about the case every week. When I called to get details, I had to refresh their memory with my son’s name. It wasn’t at all like you see on television, and I was very worried that my son would end up in jail for a small crime. I contacted the legal aid helpline in our city and talked to them about the case and our lawyer. They asked me for some information like my date of birth, social security number, and monthly gross income. I qualified for help from legal aide, and I immediately decided to change lawyers. The county lawyer was much more thorough than the paid lawyer, which completely took me by surprise. They had a plea bargain for my son in less than a week, and he won’t have a permanent record either.