ACT III
Scene 3
(NORMAN's shrouded figure materializes, performs "FOURTH and
FIFTH LAWS OF REALITY":)
NORMAN: "Truth is ever changing reality,
unknowable. In a world of competing notions of reality, wise
individuals must determine survival necessities on a priority
schedule."
(JONAH, FEY, BO, MONK face JUDGE l (Jl). UJC faces
JUDGE 2 (J2). Court Clerk bustles between them. Two
large US Marshals stand with arms crossed between UJC and others,
staring stoically at the audience except to look threateningly
from time to time and in unison at one side or another as the
dialogue warrants.)
JUDGE 1: "You say you want to represent yourself,
Mr. Jonah?"
(Looks over glasses disdainfully at a very long computer
printout, then at JONAH.)
"It seems you have had ample opportunity to learn the policies of
The Court ... what is this, one, two, three, four ... seventeen
arrests?"
JONAH: "Twenty-two, Judge."
JUDGE 2: "You say you want to represent yourself, Mr. ... UJC is
it?"
UJC: "As is my Constitutional right, your Honor."
JUDGE 1 / JUDGE 2: "A man who represents himself,
it has been said, has a fool for a client. Therefore your motion
is denied. The Court will assign an attorney to give you advice,
as is your right under the Constitution. Can you afford your own
attorney?"
ALL DEFENDANTS in unison: "No."
JUDGE 1 / JUDGE 2: "Then the Court shall provide
you with one."
(CHIZZUM and OTHER ATTORNEY(S) walk out of the
shadows. CHIZZUM stands near UJC; OTHER ATTORNEY(S)next
to other defendants.)
JUDGE 1 / JUDGE 2: "Do you attorneys take these
defendants to be your lawfully wedded clients?"
CHIZZUM / OTHER ATTORNEY(S): "We do, your Honor."
JUDGE 1 / JUDGE 2: "The Court pronounces you
attorney/client, till sentencing do you part. Do you have
anything you wish to say on behalf of your clients?"
OTHER ATTORNEY(S): "No, except that the records
clearly support release on personal recognizance, your Honor."
JUDGE 1: "Motion granted."
CHIZZUM: (In an oily voice)
"Your Honor, I would move that this case be dismissed because
there were no camping regulations posted in the Park at the time
of my client's arrest."
(OTHER DEFENDANTS suck in their breath and turn to observe
UJC while their attorney(s) attend JUDGE 1.)
JUDGE 2: "Totally inappropriate, Mr. Chizzum.
Motion denied."
(JONAH's group exhales in a moaning sigh. UJC stands with
legs splayed.)
CHIZZUM: "Then, your Honor, I recommend my client
undergo psychiatric evaluation at St. Elizabeth's Hospital."
JUDGE 2: "Not outpatient?"
CHIZZUM: "He has no home, your Honor, no family, he
therefore can't be relied on to attend outpatient evaluations.
He appears to be suffering from some sort of delusion that he can
take his case before the Supreme Court. He claims he's running
for President on the sidewalk of Lafayette Park. He lives in
abject poverty, you can see he doesn't even have a decent shirt
or a pair of shoes...."
UJC: "They were stolen from me by the police."
JUDGE 2: "Quiet. Let your counsel speak on your
behalf."
UJC: "He's not MY counsel."
(MARSHALS threaten.)
CHIZZUM: "And I'm simply not sure, your Honor, that
my client is competent to stand trial."
(Lights go down on all but CHIZZUM and JONAH, who face each
other.)
JONAH: "Precisely what was it that made you suspect
that your client might require psychiatric evaluation, Mr.
Chizzum?"
CHIZZUM: "He disagrees with the rules, the
regulations, the values, and the structure of The System. In
fact, he disagrees with just about everything about The System."
JONAH: "Okay. But specifically what was it that
made you question his sanity?"
CHIZZUM: "When someone disagrees with everything
about The System, it makes his life very difficult."
(CHIZZUM turns to plead his case to the audience. JONAH
watches.) "It's not that I believe this man is a bad person,
mind you. On the contrary. I have no negative opinion of him at
all. I merely think he's the victim of his own delusions. I
have three other clients who are getting excellent treatment at
St. Elizabeth's Hospital -- and they're MUCH better off than they
would be starving and freezing in the streets. And I've observed
how their personalities change under the therapy, particularly
when they begin psychotropic medications. They become much
calmer, more cooperative, less apt to argue, much more acceptable
in the eyes of a civilized society."
(JONAH looks directly at CHIZZUM as he speaks. CHIZZUM
refuses to look JONAH in the eye, fidgets with his papers.)
JONAH: "It's not that I believe you are
intentionally a bad person, Mr. Chizzum. On the contrary. I
believe you're a brainwashed advocate of society's delusions.
And your own. For your actions would indicate that you suffer
from the delusion that you are God, and that it is preferable to
be locked up and deprived of all your rights as a free civilized
citizen simply to have a warm bed, three hot meals, all the TV
you can stomach, and a perpetual state of drug-induced
semi-catatonia. Even if you are correct that UJC's ideas are
delusions -- and unless the Constitution and the Bill of Rights
have been superceded I don't see how that can be -- is anyone
besides the government complaining that they are suffering as a
result of his beliefs? Could the government be complaining
because he's right? On the other hand, if your beliefs are
delusionary that you can play God with the rights and freedoms of
a man simply because he's poor and sitting on the sidewalk
speaking his mind, who are you hurting?"
(Lights come up on JUDGE 2 and UJC.)
JUDGE 2: (To UJC.) "Do you have anything to
add?"
UJC: "I would like to represent myself, your Honor.
I do not recognize Mr. Chizzum as my attorney. I would like to
have my case heard at the next level of federal court ... I
believe it might merit Supreme Court review. I would like a jury
trial."
JUDGE 2: "We have already ruled that you must have
an attorney to protect your rights. We also agree with Mr.
Chizzum's motion that you undergo inpatient evaluation to
determine your competency to stand trial on these charges. We
are sure you will not be able to have a jury trial since you are
charged with a petty offence which at the maximum can only take
six months of your life and $500. We shall see you in 30 days.
Thank you, Mr. Chizzum. Next case."
(Lights down on UJC / CHIZZUM / JUDGE 2. Lights rise on
Judge l, OTHER DEFENDANTS and OTHER ATTORNEYS, who have changed
position slightly, and stand facing JUDGE 1.)
JUDGE 1: "We wish we had the time to be more
artistic in our summation of the facts, but the constraint of
time prohibits aesthetics."
(LIGHTS RISE on UJC/CHIZZUM/Judge 2 again, who have changed
positions slightly.)
JUDGE 2: "The fact is, the defense has shown beyond
reasonable doubt, without any help from the government I might
add, that this man is incompetent to stand trial on the charges
of 36 CFR 50.27, 'camping'..."
JUDGE 1: "The fact is, after seven days of
testimony by Officer Payne which was, to say the least,
contradictory and inconsistent, the government has failed in its
obligation to establish beyond a reasonable doubt those
defendants' guilt on charges of 36 CFR 50.27, 'camping'...."
JUDGE 2: "...due to the testimony of the clinical
psychologist of St. Elizabeth's Hospital, who testifies that this
defendant refuses to cooperate, and may never be competent to
stand trial..."
JUDGE 1: "...and has, in fact, raised some issues
as to First Amendment rights which I regret will not be our
fortune to decide in this particular case.... I feel sure that
these First Amendment issues will be addressed at a later date by
this Court, or others, with these defendants, or others...."
JUDGE 2: "...by virtue of the fact that he is
paranoid schizophrenic, chronic type, and he is unclear as to the
judicial proceedings involved...."
JUDGE 1: "...However, to continue further with
these proceedings would be to turn prosecution into persecution.
Case is hereby dismissed."
JUDGE 2: "...We therefore order him to continue his
evaluation and treatment at St. Elizabeth's Hospital, which shall
include the administering of any medications the doctors may deem
of assistance in bringing defendant to a state of competency.
Case is hereby continued indefinitely."
(UJC is led away by Marshals. Other defendants turn to watch
him being led away. NORMAN steps out of the shadows and performs
his NINTH LAW OF REALITY:)
NORMAN: "Nobody's stupidities are superior to your
own. The smartest person in this world would possess less than
l% of the world's knowledge. We are all at least 99% stupid."
FADEOUT
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