downcast eyes, he looks far too young to be standing at the open maw of the state’s awesome judicial engine.  Tim Lohraff  has done the best he could but it wasn’t much. Dwayne Thomas, after all, is only one of 120 clients Lohraff is currently representing. “What we do in night drug court is triage.  Every file I get I write on the outside of the file what the charge is—kind of like a doctor would, you know—cancer, heart attack, stubbed toe.  If it's a Class X and the guy's never been arrested before and he’s lookin' at six years, I’m gonna fight that one harder than the Class 4 where the guy can get probation.  The people who are not looking at as much time basically get the shaft.”

Dwayne Thomas glances up at Judge Dennis Porter. Black robed, sharp eyed, efficient, Porter is leafing through the paperwork trying to grasp the essence of the story as quickly as possible, because this is one of some 650 cases now pending on his call. But Porter has a reputation as one of the best judges in night court—the smartest, the most fair.  “He knows the law cold,” says Lohraff.  “When Porter rules against us, we're pretty well screwed.”

Judge Porter glances up from the paperwork to inspect the subject of all this legal effort. He nods to Lohraff.

“Judge, Mr. Thomas is standing before you, he is 18 years old and comes from a home where his father left. His mother is an alcoholic who, according to Mr. Thomas, is the one that started him drinking.  He stated that he has a problem with alcohol, he uses it almost every day. He’s 18, Judge. We would ask the court to consider that he still has potential to reform his life. The state has agreed to three years in exchange for the defendant’s plea of guilty, and in light of that recommendation the defendant would enter a plea of guilty.”

The judge looks up. “All right, Mr. Thomas, by pleading guilty you are giving up certain rights, among them, you are giving up your right to a jury trial, a jury trial would be with twelve people who are registered voters, these twelve people come into the courtroom, listen to the trial, and they decide if the state has