Judgement time
by Aroha Treacher 
The ascent up the escalator and into courtroom one greeted me with colourful tagging on the walls, and a sea of faces waiting in the lobby.
As a Maori myself, it is a sad sight for me to see so many of my people in trouble with the law.
The Auckland District Court is not a welcoming place.
There are no smiling faces waiting to greet me, only stern and serious expressions worn by all those that work there.
This is our second visit to the court as a group of Auckland University Technology (AUT) students.
We are learning how to observe and report court stories for eventual publication.
As I sit in the public gallery listening to minor charges I switch off until something out of the ordinary awakens me.
Like the girl who has been stalking and attacking students at Te Puke High school.
Or the mother of three who was backed into a financial corner and ended up committing benefit fraud totaling nearly $20,000.
However, the majority of cases are a constant dribble of drink driving charges and driving-related offenses.
There they go, one after the after standing in the dock waiting for the judge to impose a sentence upon them.
It is never ending.
So this is the life of a court reporter. Sifting through the mundane to find a golden story.
Sometimes lady luck is kind and the story is handed to you on a silver platter.
Most times it is not.
It is amazing to observe the vast differences of people that come through the courtroom, from the old and young, to the respectable businessman to the trans gender.
The whole courtroom experience has given me great insight into how the system works, or doesn’t, as the case may be.