Scott Laughlin<\/p>\n
\n <\/p>\n
Before the judge stands a large man, almost three-hundred-and-fifty pounds, wearing a gray t-shirt and tan cargo pants. He hasn\u2019t shaved in a few days, and his eyes, large and brown under his fat cheeks, have an expression of morose confusion. He is wearing blue and white high tops with no socks or laces.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMan,\u201d the judge begins. \u201cSit up straight, so you can hear my question. On the seventeenth day of July an officer proceeding along his beat in front of a beauty supply store, found you selling loose cigarettes. Here is one of those cigarettes. He then detained you. Does this account sound familiar to you?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cDid it go as the officer explains?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cGood. Now why were you selling cigarettes?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cDrop this \u2018what\u2019 and answer: why were you selling loose cigarettes?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIf I didn\u2019t need the money, I wouldn\u2019t sell loosies,\u201d the man says, looking down.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAnd why can\u2019t you get another job?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI have asthma. I worked for the Parks Department, but I can\u2019t work for the Parks Department anymore because of the asthma.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t play the idiot and lie about asthma. There\u2019s no point lying.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not lying, yet now you say I\u2019m lying\u2026 I\u2019m a peaceful man, yet you always come after me even when I\u2019m minding my own business,\u201d mumbles the man, blinking his eyes. \u201cHow can we do without money, your honor? I have a condition, and I can\u2019t find a job except what I was trained for, but I can\u2019t do that job because of my condition, so of course I have to make a little money. I have six kids, and the loosies allow me to get a little bit of formula or whatnot.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhy are you talking about formula?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhat? But you asked yourself! Lots of people, even those with jobs, sell loosies. We don\u2019t have a lot for our own, so many people have to sell them. Of course, a guy who doesn\u2019t have a job and doesn\u2019t sell loosies is a fool.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSo you can tell me you were selling loose cigarette to make money?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhat else, your honor? With my condition, I can\u2019t smoke!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBut you could sell something else. Maybe get a license to sell sandwiches?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t find sandwiches just sitting around, and other people already sell sandwiches. There\u2019s nothing better than a cigarette. People can\u2019t afford a full pack, and I can carry them easy in my pockets.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s pretending to be a fool, as if he doesn\u2019t understand what he\u2019s done\u201d says the judge, pointing. \u201cDon\u2019t you understand what this selling of \u2018loosies\u2019 leads to? Why, you could kill people!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhat, your honor? Who kill? I don\u2019t want to kill anybody. I never killed anyone in my life and don\u2019t want to start now.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSmoking causes cancer. Sell cigarettes as a citizen, and you could have death on your hands, and you wouldn\u2019t be protected by the state. The whole point of the law is to protect people, to keep people from smoking, yet you undermine it, so people smoke, and they might die!\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n The man smirks and squints his eyes mistrustfully at the judge. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWell all these years many people sell \u2018loosies,\u2019 and no one we\u2019ve seen has fallen down dead because of it, but now you\u2019re saying people are going to die because we\u2019ve been selling them? If I took a gun out and shot somebody, then you could say I killed somebody, but this\u2026 with all due respect, your honor, is ridiculous! I\u2019m just minding my own business.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBut you must understand, cigarettes cause cancer!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe understand that\u2026 We only sell one cigarette at a time\u2026 We don\u2019t sell full packs\u2026 We don\u2019t sell cartons\u2026 We do it a little at a time\u2026 Not enough to kill\u2026\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n The man yawns and checks the time on the clock on the wall. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cLast year, the rates of cancer increased in Staten Island. Now I understand why.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBeg your pardon, your honor?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNow, I said, I understand why cancer rates have increased in Staten Island.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s why you sit there, and I sit here, because you understand. This is what you have, understanding. But a policeman, he\u2019s got no understanding\u2026 He just grabs you by the neck and drags you off\u2026 Just messes with you even when you\u2019re not doing anything. Write this down, too, your honor, that he bent my arm behind my back and then put his club across my neck.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhen they searched your place, they found a second set of these loose cigarettes. When and where did you get them?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou mean the ones under the red trunk?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not familiar with where they discovered them, only that they found them. When did you procure them?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t get them, it was my buddy Thomas I got them from. I mean the ones that were under the trunk. The one that was in my daughter\u2019s closet, I got from Samuel.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhich Samuel?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSamuel Peters. He repairs shoes, but his business fell on hard times now that no one gets anything done in shops anymore. He needs a little extra for his family, too.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cListen, Local Law 97 requires that all cigarette packages must contain a New York State and New York City tax stamp. You are prohibited from selling individual cigarettes. The penalty for multiple violations can result in a ten-thousand dollar fine and the suspension of the retailer\u2019s license and sealing of his store. Do you understand?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBut, your honor, I don\u2019t own a store or have a license, but, of course, you know the law better than I do. What do I understand of the law?\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou understand perfectly well. You\u2019re lying when you say you don\u2019t!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhy lie? Ask anyone who knows me. All the folks know me and say hi to me. If you don\u2019t sell a cigarette, though, my kids won\u2019t eat, and everyone gets angry\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNext you\u2019ll be talking about formula again!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cFormula is expensive, your honor, so you start to do other things, like give the baby melted cheese\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBe quiet!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n There\u2019s silence in the court. The judge turns a page over, studies the words before him, as the man blinks his eyes strenuously as if what he sees before him is the sun. The judge is writing rapidly. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMay I go now, your honor?\u201d the man says.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNo. You\u2019re under arrest with no bail. You\u2019re lucky you\u2019re here at all after what the officers said about you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The man stops blinking and stares ahead over his thick cheeks. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHow do you mean, arrest? Your honor, I don\u2019t have time, I have to go home to take care of my children, and another guy owes me twenty bucks, and I got to collect\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cQuiet. Don\u2019t disturb the court.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cTo jail\u2026 If it was for something I stole, but I bought those cigarettes with my own money\u2026 I didn\u2019t steal\u2026 I didn\u2019t fight\u2026 And if you don\u2019t believe the officer, ask another officer, I didn\u2019t put up a fight\u2026 A bad man, that officer! Coming up on me when I\u2019m minding my own business. Minding my own business, judge!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cQuiet!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m quiet,\u201d the man says. \u201cI\u2019ll swear an oath that officer\u2019s account are lies.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re disturbing me. Officer,\u201d shouts the judge, \u201cTake him away!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t steal, it\u2019s the honest truth\u201d mutters the man as the two officers, soon joined by other officers, lead him away. \u201cWhy is this happening, judge? You always harass me. Judges! You have to be just. Leave me alone, I mean, it\u2019s got to be fair. If I did something, you could put me in custody, so long as I can breathe. I mean, I guess you could even beat me up if I did something wrong. I should just have a right to breathe when it\u2019s done\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Scott Laughlin Before the judge stands a large man, almost three-hundred-and-fifty pounds, wearing a gray t-shirt and tan cargo pants. He hasn\u2019t shaved in a few days, and his eyes, large and brown under his fat cheeks, have an expression of morose confusion. He is wearing blue and white high tops with no […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":540,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-written-by"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":6}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.owu.edu\/nightowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.owu.edu\/nightowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.owu.edu\/nightowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.owu.edu\/nightowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/540"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.owu.edu\/nightowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=456"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/sites.owu.edu\/nightowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":461,"href":"https:\/\/sites.owu.edu\/nightowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/456\/revisions\/461"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.owu.edu\/nightowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.owu.edu\/nightowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.owu.edu\/nightowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}