Courtroom 302

In the first few chapters, Bogira quickly alerts the reader to the imbalances in the U.S. justice system. Most of those taken into custody on 26th Street were African American, poor, and, in many instances, drug-addicted. For those who received a D-bond, their freedom depended on whether they had the money to post the cost of the bond. Many of those taken into custody, such as Walter Williams—a one-legged, heroin-addicted asthmatic on disability—did not have the hundreds of dollars it would cost not to spend the next several nights in jail awaiting their hearings.

Williams and others brought in for drug possession were in the felony lockup, while domestic batterers sat in the misdemeanor lockup alongside those caught shoplifting grocery store items. Bogira highlights that the state of Illinois considered the possession of “a minute amount of cocaine” to be “a graver offense” than beating up a wife, girlfriend, or other woman in the household (15).

In later chapters, Bogira underscores Judge Locallo’s starkly different treatment of those defendants in possession of small amounts of drugs—all African American—compared to his treatment of white, large-scale dealers. The latter were allowed to go free, while the former were forced to languish in jail.