After being in a meeting about an interview with Mike Fontaine and Scott Miller, Tompkins county judge Scott Miller has really changed my views about county judges, or even judges in general. One of the more fascinating things that I have taken from this interview is a little story about one of the cases that Judge Miller had. In the case, the defendant, a teenage boy, came into a public courtroom a little late, wearing a shirt that was not suitable for the occasion. As a matter of fact, the shirt read some words that encouraged breaking the law, ironic enough to bring to the courtroom. After being scolded by Judge Miller, in the boy’s next trial he came into the courtroom late, saying he was busy changing in order to be appropriate for the occasion. The boy came into the room with a t-shirt that illustrated a tuxedo and Judge Miller thought he was being mocked by the boy. But what really grabbed me was the fact that this little joke the boy had with the judge, influenced the judge to not plead him guilty after all, as Judge Miller himself said in the interview that connections with the Judge or the Jury definitely have an impact on your trial. This story had a significant impression on me in that the courtroom doesn’t really have to be so tense as it seems and that people can sometimes get away with small crimes as long as they take advantage of the situation.