I pray very earnestly for wisdom, and I believe God honors that. I have an incredible feeling that God has trusted me to do this job. Heart pounding, you enter the courthouse. Two armed guards standing at the entrance do command your attention, however. They point down the hall where signs above each bulletproof window announce Juvenile, Traffic, Criminal, Conciliation, Family, Civil, Probate, Jury Management.
Clerks wait behind the glass to take fines and stamp legal-looking sheets of paper.
Each door leading away from the wood, glass, and brick waiting area has a push-button lock instead of a handle. Officially dressed court staff disappear into the mysterious interior of the building. You take your seat, waiting for your lawyer and hoping that there will be a good judge, a fair judge presiding at your trial. A judge who is in the right place at the right time for the right reason. A judge like the Honorable Mary Pawlenty, of the Minnesota First Judicial District.