Month: March 2016
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Birthday welcome includes hard time promise
Piles of grey, melting slush from the spring snowstorm dotted the parking lot beneath the hospital window. The sounds of clanking carts announced the end of lunch in the maternity ward and the arrival of newborns, tightly wrapped and ready to be held and fed. The newest Hershberger son alertly studied the room’s shapes and…
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No idle child here
The woman sat on the bench scrolling through her Smart phone, studying pictures, sending texts. Beside her sat a girl, too young to have a phone, yet definitely old enough to want to do something other than just sit. She wiggled and looked around She spotted me and moved over closer, “What’s your name?” “Hush.…
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Docket of revocations overdue
Each weekly docket for the Circuit Court includes a rather lengthy list of revocations. It lists name after name of individuals who have failed at their probation for one reason or another: another crime committed, failure to report to the probation office at the appointed time, use of alcohol or drugs or moving without permission.…
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Mental illness in the court
The charge of failure to report for mandatory drug tests while on probation typically brings an additional time on probation for the convicted felon. Probation includes mandatory reporting, drug tests, payments and contact with the probation officers regarding housing. Failing to comply with the terms results in additional probation and/or incarceration in the county jail,…