Being a first year student in the Journalism program at Humber, there is a compulsory course I am taking this semester called Foundations of Newsgathering. In this course, the class is required to do assignments where we go into the field and write about stories in four categories: crime, courts, city council meetings, and the community. Having already finished the crime assignment, the class now has to sit in on a court case of our choosing and take notes on what we heard and saw.
Osgoode Hall at 130 Queen Street West in Toronto
So, I decided to go to Osgoode Hall, where the Ontario Court of Appeal, the Divisional Court of the Supreme Court of Justice, and the Law Society of Upper Canada all reside.
When I first walked into the building, I didn’t quite know where to go, but a security guard checked me in and let me into the courthouse. After passing security, I felt like a fish out of water. With all the lawyers in their polished black robes walking around and so many foreign corridors to go into it, the courthouse was just overwhelming. After a couple minutes of going into wrong rooms and wandering around, I finally found the notice board that listed all the cases for the week, what courtroom they were in, and a map of the entire building (which I had to consult a couple times throughout the day). (more…)
shannon writes... 