Saint Christopher

Sentencing arouses an electric focus and silence in the courtroom. Not dissimilar from the moment before the curtain rises to reveal a great play. The work is finished, the defendant’s fate is sealed, but to what degree will the Judge, the silent observer until this moment, extend his power. Christopher sets down his pen, lifts his head, takes a deep inhale and we all wait with baited breath to receive what his honor will decree.

In the small tight knit legal community of Hampshire Township, Judge Christopher is admired for his stern but fair decisions and making the most of his gifts. Christopher put South Carolina on the legal map for being the first state to have a non human mammal pass their Bar Exam. Christopher the Corgi, realizing his legal career would not be as lengthy as his fellow Juris Doctors, got to work with dogged determination. He rose the ranks quickly in the States Attorney’s Office as a star Prosecutor holding a perfect conviction record, never losing a case. He was appointed to the bench by the Governor, where he has dutifully sat for the past 5 years.

Christopher’s accomplishments outside the courtroom are equally impressive. He sires litter after litter of Corgi’s with his beloved companion Margerie. Although nonverbal, she communicates so much through her deep brown eyes. Together they’ve built an animal shelter in Hampshire which boasts some of the highest adoption rates in the country.

The trial at hand is one that’s weighed heavily on the hearts of Hampshire. The Principal of Hampshire High, Henrietta Herman, it turns out, has been more than a ‘pal’ to 30 of her male students. Christopher’s record has been particularly unforgiving of crimes against children. He wrote an op ed for the New York Times speaking to the vulnerability of high intelligence in small body, and exploring what it is in our species which seeks to exploit those incapable of defending themselves.

Being found guilty by a Jury of her peers, Henrietta rises in front of an overflowing courthouse filled with the community she has called home for the past twenty years. Christopher asks, “Henrietta, do you have anything you’d like to say before I deliver your sentence?” Henrietta replies, “Your honor, I maintain my innocence, and I look forward to my truth being revealed in the appeal process.” Christopher gently shakes his head as he removes his reading glasses from his long white and beige snout. Christopher begins, “Henrietta, I’ve lost much sleep over the duration of this trial. To imagine what lies in the heart of a woman who could be so selfish to consume the flesh of the young men whom you are supposed to be a shepherd for, and then to ignore their cries and testimonies in this very courtroom as untruths, is beyond my comprehension.”

He continues, “In my years serving on the bench I have observed in psychopathic and sociopath individuals that it is a different person who commits these heinous crimes, and yet the same individual. Henrietta I do hereby sentence you to 30 years in our State Penitentiary, one year for each of the boys whose innocence you’ve robbed, and whose lives you’ve inexorably altered. I must believe we are all worthy and capable of redemption and rehabilitation and thus you will become eligible for parole beginning at 20 years served. May god have mercy on your soul.”

Cheers and applause ring through the courthouse as Henrietta is escorted away in handcuffs. From behind the bars of the air conditioning grate, I keep my eyes glued to Christopher. He does not leave the bench. He leans back in his chair gazing out over his domain. He has, not a smile on his muzzle, but a deep calm presence, one I believe we all feel when we live in service and on purpose. I, Michael The Court Mouse, feel so fortunate to spend my days observing my hero. I silently think to myself, “Someday, Someday.”