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Seduced by spring on the courthouse steps
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Can you get a fair trial with Jimmy Buffett blaring outside the courtroom?
The thought crossed my mind this afternoon as I walked in front of the Baltimore County Circuit Courthouse during the annual Towson Gardens Day. The courthouse plaza and parts of nearby Pennsylvania and Baltimore avenues were converted for a few hours into a sprawling open-air market with food, flowers, jewelry and other crafts. Buffett’s music was playing from speakers placed near the entrance of the courthouse while the Towson High School jazz band took a break between sets.
Walking among the booths to, um, do research for this blog entry, I was struck by all of the activity around me, quite the departure from the normally quiet courthouse environs: A lawyer in a suit adding onions, mustard and other fixings to his hot dog; jurors, stickers clearly displayed on their chests, waiting in line for gyros during their lunch break; county employees, ID badges flapping in the breeze, perusing the brightly-colored flowers; a lad in a plaid, green kilt playing the bagpipes; and families and college students in shorts and t-shirts, enjoying weather as sweet as a fresh-squeezed lemonade.
I think I may have to go outside later for some more, um, research. And to enjoy my kettle corn.
DANNY JACOBS, Legal Affairs Writer
