The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1933-10-16
CAT TDT By
w OAVAAAN - NCoN1 Martin Bank

THE district attorney twirls one end
of his watch chain. He is fidgety.
His short body moves constantly,
nervousIy. His trousers always seem
about to drop. One chubby hand
fills his pants pocket when he speaks.
The other is poked into the face Of
the defendant, adding terror to his
swapping questions. Around his bald
head there is just enough hair to
form a horseshoe. His head seems
enormous-like balloon on top of
a bottle. His face is pasty, pock-
marked; his eyes bulge through thick
glasses. One suspects that the dis
trict attorney did not obtain his job
by virtue of his personality. Only
Tammany knows his charms.
The judge is robed in black and,
as protection against the poor light
ing system, wears a green eye shade.
His face Is handsome but pale. He
looks tired and yawns gracefully,
tapping his palm against his half
open mouth. A soft voice, cultured,
speaks with unfaltering assurance.
The words sound as if they come
from the pulpit of a church. Yet
there is something steely, firm, ada
mant, beneath his ingratiating smile.
The women fear him as he probes.
Lakes of tears fall before him, but
he queries colby, as if with knife,
opening the guarded secrets Of the
defendants.
And the defendants are loaded with
secrets. In this court the cases deal
with prostitution. The girls are hard,
made rough in the manhandling of
wretched life. They have tasted
the bitter gall of poverty, of an un-
sympathetic world. They were nur-
tured on lies, deceit, betrayal. So
one must not wonder at their cynical
behavior, at their feeble and some
times childish attempts to vindicate
themselves. Their lies are their only
defense in a society that created
them and simultaneously Furnishes
them. These girls must prowl like
thieves, and hide like hunted animals.
Their faces are twisted, coarse
carved by the systems brutal hands.
When caught plying the only trade
available for their livelihood, they
are brought into the women's court.
There they face a judge and a dis
trict attorney who have nothing but
contempt for them. The court is
not concerned about their hardships.
1t is too callouS for that. 1t is only
interested in certain facts that either
convict or free the prisoners. 1t does
not describe cures. 1t Furnishes.
The judge knows, after years of
experience, how the girls try to
wriggle out of their guilt. Their tes-
timony crumbles beneath the savage
thrusts of the district attorney. They
are helpless victims, the few caught
in the laws clutches because they
were not Clever" enough to pay for
protection. Every word the girls utter
is damning to themselves. The judge
taunts and jibes, makes them appear
foolish. The girls writhe in mael-
strom of contradictions. Case after
case brings a verdict of guilty and
prison sentence. The procession is
endless. The judges calendar is al
ways full. The prisons are damned.
And the world outside seethes with
! potential victims.
MOT all the girls who are brought
~ to trial are guilty. Many are I'M
justly arrested, framed. This day
in Women's Court, ticklish case
{for the COURT comes up for trial.
The defendant is Negro girl. She
is accused by detectives of having