Every
Thursday morning, I bear the commute from UCLA to the Stanley Mosk Courthouse,
which is located in Downtown LA. I leave my apartment around 7:00 am in order
to arrive in time for work at 8:00 am. One would think that in an hour of driving
it would be possible to travel somewhere between 40 to 60 miles, but that’s not
the case on the LA freeways. The Stanley Mosk Courthouse is only 16.1 miles
away if I take the 405, the 10, and then the 110 freeways, yet it takes me
around 45 minutes to arrive at my destination.
I endure this
traffic every Thursday morning because I am volunteering with Justice Corps for
this academic school year. Each week I am required to serve around 6 to 8 hours
a week at my assigned courthouse. Even though I had never driven in LA before,
I decided to be bold and to opt for the courthouse downtown instead of the ones
in Santa Monica or Van Nuys. I made this decision thinking that it would push
me to learn how to drive in LA and that it would introduce me to another side
of LA that I don’t see in Westwood Village. So far, after 4 weeks of service I can
claim that both of these wishes have already become true.
.JPG) |
| A view of the 110 |
This past
Thursday I set out around my usual time of 7:00 am. Unlike most Los Angeles
residents I have set up a carpool with another girl in my program. This week it
was her time to drive, which was perfect so that I could focus on my experience
of waiting in traffic. While most people I have talked to who commute regularly
lament about the congestion, I actually enjoy it. It isn’t as though the
freeways are at a standstill and I feel as though I am accomplishing nothing,
but rather there is a slow constant moving forward even in the most congested
areas. It is the one time during the day I am forced to slow down because I have
no choice!
Once I arrive
in the downtown area, the streets are not as congested. I usually get off the
110 on 9th street so that I don’t have to wait on the freeway any
longer and can navigate the gridded streets of downtown instead. The strongest
observation that I have noted during this part of the commute is there are
always many buses. I am always trying to get around a bus or stopped behind a
bus, which would suggest that public transportation is widespread and
accessible within the confines of downtown. I tried to observe the populace walking
along the streets, but since it was raining this Thursday I was not able to see
that many people walking around.
.JPG) |
| Third Street - One of the streets I drive on to get to the Courthouse |
Once I pull
into the parking lot, I shuffled into my location of focus, which is the
Stanley Mosk Courthouse. Since I enter the building from the staff entrance, I
do not come into contact with any litigants. As I make my way upstairs to the
Self-Help Resource Center, the halls start to come alive with men and women
dressed in suits and other assorted business attire. However, since it is early,
there doesn’t seem to be many other people present besides lawyers and court
employees. The main entrance does not open until right at 8:00 am when I am
already in the building.
Most service
days I have been scheduled to work on the floor, which means I help the
assorted litigants with a myriad of issues ranging from child custody request
for orders to trial setting requests to dissolutions of marriage. I help a wide
range of people, however since many are choosing to represent themselves in
court due to the inability to pay for an attorney, many come from lower income
brackets.
The biggest
takeaway that I noticed at the courthouse is how evident the division of labor
is. Durkheim mentioned many times in his chapter called “The Causes”, that as
“societies become more voluminous and concentrated” labor becomes more divided
due to the higher level of competition that stems from this concentration and
volume (208). Downtown LA appears to a very dense area, which would mean a
courthouse in the area would be a perfect candidate to demonstrate this
division of labor Durkheim expanded upon. Since litigants do come into our
center to receive help from expertise in the field, division of labor is
evident. If there wasn’t a division of labor then all people would be able to
equally represent themselves in court and would be able to complete all of the
necessary paperwork on their own. The issue is that many of these
self-represented litigants are not able to do this and need the help provided
by attorneys, who did specialize in the field of law through additional
education.
As an
undergraduate volunteer, I also demonstrate the division of labor. I am on the
floor in this self-help center in order to help the litigants fill out their
paperwork. I am not able to do much more. Or in other words, I do not have a
high enough level of specialization in order to be able to review the documents
and provide all of the necessary information. It is the responsibility of the
on site attorneys to carry out these tasks. They are specialized to the point
where, for the most part, they do not need to help the litigants fill out the
forms, but rather use their knowledge to correct the forms and inform the
litigants of any relevant court information. I am able to do the job of helping
the litigants fill out the forms because this task does not require a law
degree.
The division
of labor has always been an abstract concept to me, but through the examples
provided by Durkheim and by my experience downtown in the court house, I feel
as though I am much more conversant with the subject. The division of labor is
manifested all around, since LA is quite vast and concentrated. It’s hard to conceive
of life without the specialization of labor. I cannot imagine doing every
single task for myself, without any help from others.
 |
| A final view of Downtown as I drive away on the 110 |
No comments:
Post a Comment