When asked to describe his work, Eddy Auguste responded “We're here to make the process easier. We're basically like the bridge between the public and everyone else that's working within the courts, like the judges and the lawyers. So we’re kind of like a translator in a sense.” Eddy works as a Court Services Coordinator for CJA’s Night Court shift in Queens. The Criminal Court System often feels as if it operates in a foreign language all its own, making “translators” like Eddy all the more necessary.
As recently reported on by The Economist, most of New York City’s criminal courts close at 5PM save for a few courtrooms throughout the city open daily until 1AM in the morning. These late night courts facilitate arraignments of people still waiting from the day and some who are arrested in the evening. The state of New York requires that anyone arrested must be given an arraignment hearing within 24 hours. While that benchmark isn’t met in every case, the city still offers more consistent processing times than almost anywhere else in the country, and night court is instrumental to that success. The Manhattan Court was previously open all hours but shut down the 1AM-9AM “Lobster Shift” in 2003 amid falling crime rates.
Meanwhile, CJA’s work never stops.
Established 50 years ago as the city’s main pretrial services agency, CJA’s court-based staff interview nearly everyone who is arrested in New York City day or night. The main purpose of the interview is to provide the court with a Release Assessment that considers factors like criminal history and community ties and makes a recommendation regarding pretrial release.
The Release Assessment has been an integral part of the pretrial process for decades, with some staff saying it’s more impactful than ever. “I've noticed over the last year, on every case they go by that [Release Assessment] score and if by any chance an interview is missing, the lawyers will make sure that they have that interview on hand with the recommendation,” said Evelyn Navarro, a Night Shift Pretrial Associate in Manhattan that’s worked at CJA for over 20 years. “There are some judges that won’t arraign a client unless they have our recommendation.”
CJA’s Night Court staff start at 11PM, and usually hit the ground running to make the most of the precious time before arraignments close at 1AM. “It's a little hard sometimes because it's the last two hours. So it's very hard for you to be sitting in the audience of court and the judge says, oh, bail is set, let's say $5,000. So you have two hours to find $5,000,” said Christina Ritchie, a Court Services Coordinator in Brooklyn. Christina is talking here about the vital role that CJA staff play is in bail expediting - helping people to get in touch with family members or friends and navigate the bail system to attain their release before the courts close. “It's a lot of work, but it's worth it.”
After arraignment courts close at 1AM, CJA staff continue to interview defendants. While an average night might entail 40-50 people, that amount can surge unexpectedly. “We did one night this week with 80 people. All in one night with just four staff,” said Christina.
Being arrested and making your way through the pretrial system can be a stressful and confusing process at any hour of the day, but finding yourself in central holding after dark can evoke heightened emotions. “A lot of individuals come in not knowing that there's night court, so they start to just get a little bit angry because they're thinking, ‘I'm not going home anytime soon.’” Queens Pretrial Associate Shavoy Campbell explained. “So just us being able to explain to them that, ‘Hey, listen, there's still time. Maybe you'll get a chance to see the judge tonight.’ Or just explaining to them how the whole process works. I feel like that usually helped calm their nerves a little bit more.”
CJA’s staff are familiar with the emotional toll that a late-night arrest can bring and strive to provide an empathetic ear to defendants just looking for someone to listen.
“Some people want to be heard. Some people want to tell you what happened. Some people were having a bad day. So I think your initial ‘Hi’ and how you approach the person kind of sets the tone.” Said Shareema Thomas-Orane, a Pretrial Associate who recently transferred to Brooklyn after working in the Bronx Night Court for six years. “Sometimes you try to find ways to accommodate them, even if it's like, ‘can I call somebody for you?’ Just telling them ‘It is going to be all right. Things happen. I'm sorry.’”
In many other parts of the country, courts don't operate nearly as long as in New York. Even in large cities, after-hours court is often resigned to virtual sessions or only available for certain divisions like traffic court. The extensive availability of New York criminal court can make a massive difference for those arrested during off hours. “I've known people that have been arrested out of state and they get arrested on a Friday and they're not seeing a judge till Monday. We don't have that problem,” said Christina. “We're here on Christmas, we're here on New Years, we're here on Thanksgiving.”
Though night court can be draining and stressful for many involved, CJA staff say that those difficulties are what makes the work rewarding. “It's challenging, but it's good. We're doing a really good job here, and we just try to ensure that we can assist them the best way we can,” said Shareema. In Queens, Eddy recalled “there was some instances where I've seen people that probably waited for their family member all day, and they were excited to see them finally arraigned and able to go home.”