Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-08-20
Assistant Corporation Counsel
SchuIdt Comments on Ju-
veniIe Court Quarters.
PRESENT SPACE LIMITED.
PRIVACY NOT POSSIBLE
Suggestion Made by Judge Latimer
for Housing in Judiciary
Square Endorsed.

Assistant Corporation Counsel Gus A.
Schuldt. prosecuting attorney at the Ju-
venile Court. conducted a representative
of The Star through the court building
| today. and pointed out the "glaring de-
fects of the present inadequate quarters
! in which the court is housed
ITO begin with my own Office Mr..
! Schuldt said, you can see it consists of
| desk in the corner of a room which
| includes all of the courts Offices in it's
limited space. Women are forced to tell
the prosecuting attorney tales meant only
for his ears with a curious crowd gath
cred around them. There is no quiet. as
In this building. owing to it's small size,
| it Is nearly always necessary to have a
number of witnesses sit here until the
| cases in which they have been summoned
are called. 1t is necessary to have them
| in this room because the courtroom is not
pig enough, and because many have cry
ing infants with them.
Work in Cramped Quarters.
THE clerks who are in the same room
with all this hubbub are separated from
the rest OF the room only by a rail, and
nave to work in cramped quarters The
>oui u oOIIl IS a IIles.Il. Id"uFN affair. WIFI
the bench consisting of a table Oh a
raised poEtiOn of the floor at one end of
the room. A fiat-toppe6 desk i'm front
or this must serve for the clerk of the
court.
"A number of cheap chairs are placed
mere Tor spectacle attorneys, defend
| ants and witnesses. The room is a long
| narrow one. with two windows at each of
the ends The door to the courtroom Is
only few PAGES from the main door TO
the street, and it is nearly always
necessary to keep both of these doors
open, the street noises are easily hea rd
| by any one in the courtroom
Porch Ready to Fall.
There is a back porch Mr.. SCHMIDT
continued, leading the way to it. land.
as you see. it is almost ready to fall
| down. 1t is positively a danger to the
lives of people coming to this court to
nave such a tumbledown place one
which may collapse at any moment Dur
ing SIX months in the year people who
nave to come to court naturally come
out on this porch to get the air. and I
wouldn't be a bit surprised if some one
should De seriously hurt here some day
Mr.. Schuldt then led the wav to the
rooms on the second floor In the front
| room on this floor the three probation
officers of the court have their des IS
ana there Is scarcely any space left for
even chair in the room
1T is here Mr. Schuldt said. "that
the children who are on probation have
to report to the probation officers and
the propriety of having such place for
thei,i 10 come 10 is on q par with the
condition of the rest of the building"
There are rooms on the third floor of
the house in which the court is held, but
they are SO much worse even than those
which are used that they arc kept closed
and used for storage purposes only.
Space for Juvenile Offenders.
The back room of the second floor is
the one in which juvenile offenders are
kept until they are given a hearing be-
fore the Judge The walls are cracked
and the ceilings are falling down, as in
all of the rooms, and there is a low
bench running all of the way around it.
Two small windows admit the only light
where the children get their chief i'm
preston OF the court, and to add to the
dun geonlike appearance of the space
heavy iron bars cover these windows
If you were a child and had commit
ted some minor offense, Mr. Schuldt
said, commenting on the condition of
this ROOM would you feel as if any
one were particularly interested in your
welfare or trying to help you il they
shut you up in a veritable cell like this !?
Yet juvenile court is supposed to con-
vey plea8ing impression to the youth
full mind"
The room in which men charged with
non support Of their wives and families
are held until their hearings before the
Judge is In the basement of the build
ing, and is the smallest one in use. The
windows, which are SO close to the
ground that little light or air reaches
the apartment, are also barred across.
and the room hardly affords comfort
able space for two.
After seeing this court minutely in
this way" MIR. Schuldt said can any
one combat the movement for a new
courthouse. one specially designed for
Its purpose by those who know what is
needed" This place. I'm glad to know.
viii be torn down within a year, as it
is necessary to put one of the federal
government buildings on the site
Urges Preparation Of Plans.
"knowing we will have to select new
quarters for the court, plans should be
Immediately started for the construc-.
ton Of a building in keeping with the
needs OF the children and the dignity
of the capital of the nation. Judge
Latimer's plan for building to be
erected on the northeast corner OF
Judiciary Square, to correspond so far
as the exterior is concerned with the
Court Of Appeals, which occupies the
opposite corner of the square, is the
mentioned l can conceive of no ade-
ouate objection to having this plan put
into execution Immediately.
II think the public's hearty support
will hasten the realization of this very
project.