Personal Narrative: My Visit To Price County

Courthouse Visit On Tuesday, November 8th I visited the Price County Courthouse in Phillips, WI were the honorable Douglas T. Fox presided. Judge Fox is a circuit court judge which is an elected positon and he is currently serving his sixth term. I was not aware that Judge Fox was an elected official until I did research on his background, but I feel that this is a good way for the people to pick a judge that will be fair and impartial and has similar views as the public. On the day that I visited the courthouse I witnessed many different things. The first part of the day consisted of in-take from the different police agencies in the county which included the state patrol, Price County sheriff’s department and the Phillip’s & Park Falls police departments. After watching the in-take I learned that the judge will only ask the respondent how they plead and no discussion will be heard during this time. If a defendant pleads not guilty a trial is scheduled. When other respondents plead guilty or no contest the judge ruled by the book and handed out fair fines to all. The second part of my day in the courtroom consisted of a name change hearing and a continuation hearing of a case presented by the District Attorney, I also had to leave the courtroom for a juvenile hearing. During the name change hearing the judge asked very specific questions of the petitioner who was sworn in under oath. After all of the judge’s questions were answered the petitioners name change was granted. I found this case …show more content…
I learned about the differences between real court and TV court and it dispelled a lot of myths. I have a deeper respect for the Judicial system and the history of our courts systems. I do on a whole think the U.S. legal system is fair and just, but that it can be misused including abuses of discretion and mistakes by judges and juries and procedural