Serial: S03 Episode 02: You’ve Got Some Gauls

September 21, 2018 3:32 AM

When a judge believes he knows you better than you know yourself.

Interesting listening, given the current focus on the role of judges...
(Co-reporter Emmanuel Dzotsi leads part of this story.)

posted by progosk (7 comments total)

Honestly, Judge Gaul is like a character out of a Dickens novel.

The Cleveland Plain-Dealer has an article about Gaul in response to the Serial episode.

Oh, and apparently the long story behind Dzotsi's accent is that he was born in England and lived there until he was twelve.
posted by Kattullus at 3:46 AM on September 21, 2018

I almost turned this one off because I didn't want to burn with rage on that particular day. But the exploration of parole being less attractive than it might appear was interesting, so I'm glad I listened through.

Between this and Ear Hustle I'm kinda ready to volunteer for some prison organization... guess I need to educate myself.
posted by selfnoise at 4:57 AM on September 21, 2018 [2 favorites]

This guy is a walking, talking version of every study of judicial bias that boils down to, like, “If your sentencing is right after lunch, you’ll get less time than if it’s at the end of the day when everyone’s hangry.”
posted by Etrigan at 5:56 AM on September 22, 2018 [1 favorite]

Wow, that was such a weird mix of well meaning + racist + biased + I don't know what the fuck there.

He sounds like a fairly typical shit judge though.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:14 PM on September 22, 2018 [1 favorite]

I'm amazed, I mean really amazed, that judges are elected in the US. I mean, wtf?
posted by tavegyl at 1:03 AM on September 24, 2018

Halfway through this episode, and Gaul seems like every over-confident white guy who thinks he knows more than the whole of the Black experience in America. Speaking in outdated slang and asking about how many kids people have is unconscionable, and if there was any justice (pun intended) in the world, he'd be voted out immediately, but I'm sure his white constituents really like his "tough" approach.
posted by xingcat at 7:28 PM on September 28, 2018 [1 favorite]

This judge sounds extremely similar to the judges I practice in front of in trial courts in Kentucky. They are a dime a dozen, and often (as Keonig points out), the price of getting probation or a break is to sit through a constant stream of insults and patronizing comments from a judge who is applying broad strokes and stereotypes to individual people they know next to nothing about.
posted by likeatoaster at 8:13 AM on September 29, 2018 [1 favorite]