Business as usual at the Orleans Parish Courthouse today, with hundreds of cases moving through the system, ranging from first-offense marijuana possession to attempted second degree murder. Lots of crack-related charges, and a couple "felon with firearm" cases also in the mix.

This morning, before going to the courthouse, I listened to Karen Herman, a representative from Courtwatch NOLA on the radio, discussing the court-watch program. Ms. Herman said that the program trains volunteers to sit in on courtroom actions and document what goes on in the course of certain trials.

One cause for concern, according to Ms. Herman, is the issue of continuances; that is, putting off the resolution of a stage in any given case, for any number of reasons. The fear is that too many continuances delay, hence deny, justice. Delays in legal processes can also hinder justice when evidence is damaged or destroyed, when witnesses die or can't be found, or when administrative foul-ups "disappear" people from the justice system for weeks, months, or even longer.

On the other hand, granting continuances also benefits justice from time to time, or else it wouldn't be done. Today, in courtroom Section L, the judge granted two continuances, one for a man out on bond, the other for an inmate of OPP.

In the first case, the nervous accused stood twitching while his court-appointed attorney informed the judge that he had only become acquainted with the defendant three days ago, and hence was not ready to give an adequate defense to the man. Upon questioning, neither the defense attorney nor the accused himself could remember the name of the original court-appointed lawyer.

Frustrated, and in a nod to the awareness that continuances are slowing justice down and making judges look bad, his honor quipped, as he granted the stay, "It is what it is, I'm sorry. We don't even have the [original] lawyer's name." Proceeding with that case would have violated the man's right to proper counsel, a right that is easy to overlook by citizens outraged by crime and lawlessness, but not so easily taken for granted by anyone who's ever been penniless and wrongfully accused of a crime.

The other continuance was ordered when an officer who investigated a June burglary on Esplanade was unable to testify due to his recovery from a second round of chemotherapy for leukemia. The suspect in this case was caught on videotape breaking a store's windows and stealing some liquor. Investigators watched the tape and determined from the perpetrator's appearance and demeanor that he was homeless. They contacted the director of the Homeless Assistance Program of NOPD, who recognized the man in the tape by name, identifying him as Christopher Horton, a homeless man with alcoholism who had recently come out of the hospital.

Detectives picked him up on Jackson Square later that week, and since then the suspect has been in OPP. Two of the officers involved in his case were in the courtroom, and both testified, but the judge called for the testimony of a third detective, and so Mr. Horton will remain there until his next court date, slated for the 21st of this month, courtesy of a continuance.