Brooklyn Crockton, a student at Roger Williams University School of Law, posted a TikTok video recalling what happened last Thursday when she tried to enter a courtroom to represent a client as part of the school’s criminal defense clinic.
Crockton explained Rhode Island Supreme Court Rule 9 allows law students to represent criminal case defendants in state District Court under the supervision of a licensed attorney on the RWU Law faculty, Boston.com reports.
While lined up with other attorneys at the Garrahy Judicial Complex in Providence, Crockton says she was preparing to enter the courtroom to represent a client in a misdemeanor case when the sheriff’s deputy placed “his body between me and the door” and asked her to step aside.
After allowing the other attorneys to enter the courtroom, the deputy turned to Crockton and asked for her name. When she replied, the deputy asked,
“Are you sure you are in the right courtroom? Are you the defendant?”
Crockton expressed her shock and embarrassment at that moment and noted the Black attorneys who have had similar encounters.
I can just hear what that white sheriffs deputy’s defense will be…