American Justice Chapter 18

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Disclaimer: This story is purely fictional. Any resemblance to actual individuals or events are purely coincidental.



September 7th.


There's no sign of cooling weather, and New York feels like a giant oven.


The investigation results for Brooklyn Lee have come out.


No evidence was found of Judge Brooklyn Lee's misconduct.


Brooklyn has been reinstated to his position!


Today is his first official day back at work.


As usual, there is a crowd of people outside the courthouse, and it's not clear which case is attracting so much attention from reporters with microphones and photographers carrying their gear, gathering together in a group.


Their new darling is surrounded in the center, and Brooklyn is a thing of the past, with no one paying attention to him.


He parked his car in the parking lot, and as soon as he was about to get out, he heard a loud engine roar behind him, and a dramatically-styled black motorcycle came straight towards him.


Before Brooklyn could react, the motorcycle executed a beautiful drift and parked in the parking space next to him.


The owner of the motorcycle took off his helmet, revealing a typical middle-aged man's face.


"Good morning, Judge Brooklyn."


The motorcyclist greeted him, with a sunny smile on his face.


"Good morning, and you are..."


Brooklyn stood in place, holding a file bag, mechanically greeting him and looking like a fool.


"Michael, Michael Destito."


The Motorbike driver took off his gloves and shook Brooklyn's hand.


"Michael Destito?" Brooklyn followed the race car driver and got on the elevator.


He was familiar with the name.


It was the new Chief Judge of E.D.N.Y.


Two months ago, Judge Paul suffered a heart attack and passed away. A new Chief Judge was quickly appointed, and his name was Michael Destito.


At the time, Brooklyn was still suspicious of the FBI's involvement and was paying close attention to Judge Paul's successor. However, the FBI failed to intervene before Michael took office and the case was presided over by another experienced judge at E.D.N.Y.


Because of this Brooklyn gave up his suspicion of the FBI later on.


If the FBI went to great lengths to select a preferred judge to preside over the case and possibly assassinate a Chief Judge of a federal court, it would not be a good choice to do so during the court proceedings.


Michael's arrival completely dispelled Brooklyn's last bit of suspicion.


This middle-aged man commuted to work on time every day, but he never handled any cases or appeared in court. He stayed in his office during work hours and approved anyone's requests like an automated rubber stamp.


After work, he went to the L&O bar and had a good time with everyone.


L&O is a members-only bar only open to legal professionals, and it is a popular spot for judges and lawyers to hang out.


After parachuting into E.D.N.Y, he seemed to do everything except work, and he fit in unnaturally well. He looked like a guy who was just waiting to die.


[TLN: SUS]


"Welcome back, Brooklyn."


As they went up to the second floor, Michael's office was in the same direction as Brooklyn's. Michael welcomed him as they walked.


"Do you still need an assistant? Do you want to choose your own or do you need the court to recommend one for you?"


Michael stood at the door and asked.


"Don't worry, think it over first and come to me when you need to. I'll be here," he said, pointing to his office.


Just as Brooklyn thought this strange encounter was over, Michael poked his head out of the office again.


"Your courtroom is still the 9th, and they say 9 is your lucky number."


"By the way, we've temporarily assigned you some easy cases. Don't misunderstand, the court values your ability, these are just warm-ups for you."


"If you need anything, come find me, I'll be here."


With that, Michael waved to Brooklyn like a beckoning cat.


[TLN: Am I the only one that finds this guy as a walking red flag?]


Brooklyn glanced at the neighboring office.


No matter what Michael's motives were, it was hard to dislike him.


He could have just assigned the work without explaining it to Brooklyn, and Brooklyn wouldn't have thought anything special of it, but he still explained.


This boss is interesting.


Brooklyn shook his head and walked into his own office.


During his investigation, this office had been sealed off, but now that the investigation was over and the owner had returned, the office was being used again.


Brooklyn walked step by step inside, memories flooding his mind.


The office was divided into two sections, with the outer third of the space assigned to the judge's assistant. This part of the layout was simple, with a desk and rows of filing cabinets.


Only after passing through another door was the judge's actual office.


The judge's office was spacious, with the same style of filing cabinets surrounding it. In the center was a larger desk, and to the left of the desk was a wardrobe.


Inside the wardrobe hung black judicial robes.


These were the "work clothes" for judges.


As soon as he put on his "work clothes," Michael's assistant Ruby knocked on the door and entered.


"Brooklyn, welcome back. These are your 'welcome gifts.'"


Michael did not replace Kriman's assistant.


She placed a thick stack of documents on Brooklyn's table and without greeting, hurriedly left.


Brooklyn flipped through the files. They were all complaints that he would have to preside over later.


Michael hadn't lied to him; these were all civil complaints.


Federal courts can be roughly divided into six types: civil courts, criminal courts, family courts, housing courts, small claims courts, and surrogate courts.


The files Brooklyn received did not include any criminal complaints.


After briefly scanning a few complaints, it was almost nine o'clock, so Brooklyn rushed to Courtroom No. 9.


…..



…..


Courtroom No. 9.


The duty officer, acting as the judge's assistant, maintained order. When he saw Brooklyn coming from the inner court, he coughed.


"Please rise, the E.D.N.Y. Courtroom No. 9 is now in session, presided over by the respected Judge Brooklyn Lee."


Brooklyn nodded slightly at him, strode to the judge's bench, and put his hands down.


"Please be seated, everyone."


He didn't look at the parties involved but lowered his head to study the complaints.


The first case, according to the complaint, was a family dispute.


The old-fashioned story of broken parental relationships, mutual accusations, and property disputes that had reached the courts.


Fortunately, they didn't have any children.


As the saying goes, it's difficult for an upright official to settle family affairs. Regardless of past lives or present, Brooklyn hated this type of case. They were difficult to resolve, and the rewards were low. It was a typical case where the effort invested was not proportional to the outcome.


After reading the complaint, Brooklyn already had the urge to stand up and leave.


Note:


Civil court: disputes between individuals or companies with a claim amount of no more than $25,000.

Criminal court: criminal complaints, subpoenas, summonses, felony, and misdemeanor charges.


Family court: child custody, visitation, guardianship, and protection orders.


Housing court: disputes between landlords and tenants, including eviction.


Small claims court: disputes between individuals or companies with a claim amount of no more than $10,000.


Surrogate court: wills, estates, deceased persons' property, adoptions, and guardianship.


The case mentioned at the end, as well as many other cases that appear later, should actually be classified under the state court...


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