A RAY OF HOPE IN THE DETRITUS OF CRUSHED ILLUSIONS AND SHATTERED DREAMS

"Congratulations, oh seems like you've done it again
And I ain't had such misery, since I don't know when
I notice so many people, slipping away
And many more waiting in line, in the courtrooms today..
Oh, in the courtrooms today... 
From Congratulations, by Paul Simon

By Juan Montoya

On any given day, walk into the 444th District Court, and, if you have the stomach to withstanding an  unending flow of human misery, shattered dreams and crushed illusions, have a seat.
Here, the detritus of human emotions, crushed hopes and abandoned dreams are piled up in the stack of files on the bench of Judge David Sanchez, a portly jurist who listens patiently to the litigants and their attorneys as each depressing case makes its way through the legal process.
There's the mother who is asking for a restraining order on her underage nephew because he has been charged with the rape of his cousin, her daughter. She has a young attorney with the Cameron County Attorney's office representing her as the victim. Her sister, the suspect's mother, represent her son
"She is just a child," the mother explains to the judge, crying. "She may look older than she is, but she has the mind of a child."
The mother explains that one night after she was working late she came home to find the cousins talking in her yard and her daughter and her brother playing on their computer. The boys were drinking beer. After everyone left, the male cousin lingered behind. She, being tired, drank a Smirnoff and went to bed. Next morning her daughter told her her older male cousin had assaulted her sexually.
"Why don't you tell the judge there was beer in your house?," the suspect's mother asks defensively.
The young DA gets pulled back by his mentor and he amends the original petition for the restraining order. Instead of asking for two years, he asks for a lifetime restraining order and Sanchez grants it. For the rest of the cousins' life, they cannot come within 200 yards of each other.  Not on family occasions, holidays, birthdays, marriages, funerals, never.
"I love my nephews," says the complainant. "They are my sister's sons. But she is just a little girl."
Weeping, both litigants exit the courtroom.
Up next is a woman whose husband lost his teaching position because of the UTB-TSC split. Unable to find work here, in the middle of his divorce proceedings he accepted a job in an oil-rich Middle Eastern nation and is not present in the courtroom.
"We want a permanent restraining order prohibiting him from taking the children out of the United States and an order for him to sign the papers so the house can be sold and for him to pay my client $30,000," says a rat-faced female lawyer. "And we want him held in contempt for not making an appearance here. How long is my client wait?"
The man's attorney can't disguise his disdain for the woman and her attorney's claims and tells Sanchez that the man's employment prevents him from attending every hearing in Brownsville. Turning to the woman he asks her:
"Has my client ever told you that he was going to take the children to the Middle East?"
"Well, not in so many words..," she hesitates.
"And we object to allowing their paternal grandparents from seeing the children because they say bad things about my client," the woman's lawyer interjects.
"Your honor," the man's attorney objects, "these people are missionaries. These charges are completely exaggerated."
In the middle of the proceedings, Sanchez remembers that today is Dec. 7, the day "which will live in infamy," and leads the entire courtroom in the Pledge of Allegiance.
Then it's back to the drudgery.
A couple married for the last seven years go through the inventory of possessions they have accrued in their marriage. She keeps the house, he keeps his car. He will continue to pay the mortgage and $2,000  a month for payments on sundry items. She is pressing for an additional $300 a week for groceries, which Sanchez approves. She also gets to keep her retirement and he keeps his. She will also maker her car payments.
The next couple is fighting over somewhat smaller community property. He lives with his parents and is currently unemployed. She works at a convenience store. During the two years that they have been married, they There have accrued no mortgage debt, furniture, or any retirement accounts on either side. He is also expected to pay for the children's upkeep.
The one bone of contention is a entertainment canter they were purchasing at FlexiCompras for some $3,000 and which they hocked at a pawnshop. They could not keep up the payments on the pawned items and now FlexiCompras is demanding payment. The woman's attorney wants the used truck bought for $500, and for him to pay back the entire amount to the furniture company. He objects.
Sanchez sets a date for another hearing when the couple's legal representatives can come up with an amount of the money owed the furniture.
"Let that be a lesson to you to be careful of these companies that charge you such high interest rates," he tells the couple and the audience in general. "We have laws against usury."
The only time that there is even the hint of warmth in the courtroom is when a couple is petitioning the court to let them adopt the orphaned niece of the woman who has been all but abandoned by the father. Everything seems to be in order except for an ad litem appointment for representation of the child. An attorney present in the courtroom by chance (Alex Dominguez) is appointed on the spot and he consults with the parties and fulfills the role. Sanchez grants the adoption. He asks Dominguez what his fee will be.
'This is for a good cause," Dominguez answers. "I am not asking for a fee. Let his be an early Christmas gift from me to you," he tells the grateful parents.
"I wish you the best," Sanchez tells the couple who leave the courtroom smiling.
Then he turns to the slew of lawyers now standing by the podium with their clients champing at the bit and the court administrator calls out yet another case number from the interminable stack of files and the combatants prepare for battle over what's left of their shattered dreams.