Amy's Kourt: A Young Girl's Efforts to Help Her Community

By Artist Lauren Bouldin and James A. Gauthier J.D.

Amys Kourt is an excellent book to teach young people about the court system from understanding the roles of judges and bailiffs to identifying plaintiffs and defendants. Terminology is presented to better understand the role that attorneys and jurors play on the judicial stage. Amys Kourt is a fun book to read for all ages.
Amy begins her judicial career at age 7 in her neighborhood. Over the years, her role expands into becoming a school judge and ultimately starting her own private court system. Amy is loved and respected, especially by a wealthy businessman that leaves Amy his fortune so that she can continue to help the community. Amys younger sister, Cynthia is Amys twin, separated by seven years in age. Amy and Cynthia together create a help center that provides clothing, emergency housing, and food in very non-traditional ways. The reader will understand about the help center when two little girls ask for shoes. When asked what kind of shoes they would like, the girls reply, The kind that dont have holes in the bottom. Amy recognizes that the working poor are represented by those families occupying big homes and owning things like motor homes and boats. Parents cant meet their childrens basic needs and still pay for expensive recreational vehicles. As a result, the children often go without as pride prevents this type of parent from accepting help. Amys tenacity brings help where needed.
Amys Kourt is a book about helping others when you have the means to help. Amy teaches about caring and sharing with others, while expecting those being helped to do the things necessary to help themselves.

James A. Gauthier, J.D.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: May 18, 2015
• ISBN: 9781490760278

Artist Lauren Bouldin

James A. Gauthier has published several books including Emily, Emily 2; a trilogy called Inside Out: New Beginnings, Inside Out: Rise of the Monarchy, and Inside Out: Final Conflict; Surrealeum Dreams, Ian & Eli, Near Identical twins; Interstitial Beings; Anna Banana, the Golden Yellow Banana Slug; and Unacceptable Expectations. His books leave the reader asking questions when the book is finished. His books are informative and generally teach a moral or looks at alternatives to the road taken by most travelers. The books are easy reading and enjoyable for most ages.

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© Copyright 2015 J. A. Gauthier, J.D.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written prior permission of the author.

ISBN: 978-1-4907-6026-1 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4907-6028-5 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4907-6027-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015907741

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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CONTENTS

Chapter Onehere Ye, Here Ye

Chapter Two Open Kourt House

Chapter Three Amy’s School Kourt Is Now In Session

Chapter Four Training To Be A Judge

Chapter Five Learning The Law The Hard Way

Chapter Six School Kourt Is Changing

Chapter Seven Moving Up

Chapter Eight I Am A Judge

Chapter Nine Amy’s Kourt Is Growing Up

Chapter Ten My First Jury Trial

Chapter Eleven What Are Conflicts Of Interest?

Chapter Twelve What Next?

Chapter Thirteen What Is Mediation?

Chapter Fourteen On Becoming Partners

Chapter Fifteen There’s More To Amy Than Courts

Chapter Sixteen The Beginning Of Amy’s Place

Chapter Seventeen Welcome Cynthia

Chapter Eighteen When Is Help Too Much Help?

Chapter Nineteen Training Up New Amy’s Kourt Judges

Chapter Twenty Amy’s Place Two

Chapter Twenty-One Time Out For Amy

Chapter Twenty-Two On Becoming Mothers

Chapter Twenty-Three Cynthia Is Getting Married & More

Chapter Twenty-Four We Aren’t Done Yet

Chapter Twenty-Five Amy’s Personal Renewal

Chapter Twenty-Six The Road Well-Traveled

CHAPTER ONE

Here Ye, Here Ye

A my! Your brothers are fighting again. Please tell them to stop fighting or else they will be punished.

I replied, Mom, what is the punishment. You can’t threaten Tom and Gary without specifying the punishment if they don’t stop.

Mom replied, Amy, you decide their punishment. You always seem to know what is best to get their attention.

I told my brothers that they would be grounded from swimming if they didn’t stop fighting. I knew that removing swimming was a good form of punishment since the temperature was going to hit 95 degrees today.

Tom first, then Gary yelled back at me, Make us.

I replied, That’s fine. Your punishment is that you are grounded from swimming today as I stated.

Gary replied, You can’t stop us. We are going swimming. Just try and stop us!

I wasn’t sure how to stop them. I am seven years old. I weigh 53 pounds wet and I am nearly a head shorter than either of my brothers. My brother Tom is nine years old and my brother Gary is eleven years old. I know that either could pound my face and I wouldn’t be able to stop him. The only advantage I held was that I was a girl and their little sister. My brothers loved me except when my mother made me do her job of disciplining my brothers.

I turned to Gary and said, I am sorry, but the punishment stands. You and Tom shall forfeit swimming today for refusing to listen to me. You understood the consequences of your continued fighting and now you are being properly punished.

Gary asked me, Will an apology remove the punishment?

I went to reply to Gary when Tom said, Do what you want. I am not apologizing to the little dweeb. She has no right to punish us anyway. We are older and bigger than her. I am going swimming with or without you Gary.

Gary looked at me and said, Well? Will you accept my sincere apology? I should not have treated you like I did. I have too much respect and love for you as my little sister.

I told Gary, I will accept a hug and apology this time. Gary gave me a big hug and said, Amy, please forgive me for the disrespect I have shown to you. I promise to treat you better next time.

Tom looked at me and said, Gary, you are a fool. She can’t make us do anything that we don’t want to do.

Gary replied to Tom, You apologize to Amy or you are not swimming today.

Tom replied, Shove it!

The temperature was 89 degrees when the community pool opened. I was getting ready to go swimming and take Gary with me. The pool was two blocks away from our house and was safe to walk to. We were dressed and had our towels and some money for a snack. As Gary and I began to leave our house, I yelled back to Mom, Gary and I are going swimming, but Tom is grounded from swimming today.

Mom replied, OK, but where is Tom right now?

I looked in his bedroom, but Tom wasn’t there. He snuck out the back window and rode his bike to the swimming pool. I was angry with Tom.

Gary said, Don’t worry Amy; I will enforce the punishment for you.

I watched Gary walk up to Tom and take him by his arm and escort him out of the pool area. Gary made Tom ride his bike back home and then locked Tom in their bedroom. Mom promised to keep Tom in the room. Gary returned to the pool and we had fun swimming for the afternoon. I made sure to thank Gary for helping me enforce the punishment against Tom.

I explained to Gary, All Tom had to do was apologize. Mom doesn’t like fighting and both of you know it; so please stop. Mom is seven months pregnant and doesn’t need more stress in this heat.

When Gary and I returned home, Tom apologized to me and said that he wouldn’t disrespect me again.

I thanked Tom and said, I hope not.

Mom had a baby girl whom she named Cynthia. Cynthia looked exactly like me when I was a baby. I asked my mother if she thought Cynthia would grow up to look like me.

Mom replied, Cynthia looks just like you as a baby. I wouldn’t be surprised if she looks a lot like you when she is older.

I had a strong attachment to my little sister. I loved playing with her and just being her big sister. I commented, One day little sister, you and I are going to change the world together.

Word spread through our neighborhood. It didn’t take too long before Alice and Rebecca asked me to settle a dispute they were having. Alice lived across the street from me and Rebecca lived two houses away from my own. We were all headed to third grade in the fall. I asked Alice what the dispute was all about.

Alice replied, I had Rebecca over at my house. We were playing with my dolls and doll house when Rebecca got mad at me because I chose a dress that she wanted for her doll. Before I could offer the dress to Rebecca, she grabbed my doll and tore off the dress. The dress tore and is ruined. Now my mom is angry because she paid $16.99 for the dress.

I told Alice that I was sorry that happened. I looked at the torn doll dress and I believed it was ruined as well. I figured the dispute was easy and I asked Rebecca what happened. My thought was that Rebecca needs to buy Alice a new doll dress.

Rebecca replied, Alice and I were playing dolls. I wanted the dress that was on her doll because she was changing the doll into a different dress. I took Alice’s doll and she grabbed it back out of my hands and that is how the dress got torn. Alice tore it; not me!

I sat back and realized that the dispute was more complicated than I originally thought. Alice and Rebecca were both my friends and I didn’t want to hurt either one.

Alice yelled, Amy, are you going to help us or not?

I replied, Both of you are my friends. If I make a decision, one of you will be mad at me and I don’t want to lose either of your friendships. Why don’t you let your parents work it out?

Rebecca replied, No, I trust your decision and I will live with it.

Alice replied, I will accept your decision as well.

I listened to the facts once again and decided that both were the cause of the dress getting damaged. I decided that Rebecca should reimburse Alice for one-half of the cost of the dress. I wrote out, Judgment for Alice in the amount of $8.50.

Rebecca said, That’s fine with me. I will get my mother to give you a check for the amount and then Alice; I don’t want to play with you anymore. We are no longer friends. Rebecca left for home.

Alice looked at me and asked, Amy, you are still my friend, aren’t you?

I replied, Of course I am. By tomorrow, Rebecca will also be your friend again.

I didn’t like being put into the position of having to decide, but my friends pleaded with me to decide their dispute and I did what I was asked.

The next day Alice and I were playing on the playground when Rebecca asked to join us. We were all friends again as I expected.

One of our neighbors on the next block had an aggressive dog that they kept in a fenced yard. The dog belonged to David, a sixth grader at my school. Kelly, a fourth grader was walking past the fenced yard with her frozen fruit drink when the dog jumped at the fence scaring Kelly and causing her to drop her drink. Kelly’s friend suggested that she tell me about it and see if I could get her another drink.

Once again, it sounded so simple to solve. Why do they need me? I asked David if he would agree to participate in a decision on the lost drink and his dog.

David replied, My dog, Daisy did nothing wrong. I will listen to what Kelly says, but she will be lying if she says my dog did something to her.

I arranged for David and Kelly to tell me their story. I heard both sides and thought that David should replace Kelly’s drink. I was ready to make my decision when Joseph asked if he could talk. Joseph was nine and saw everything that happened. I asked Joseph to tell what he saw.

Joseph replied, I saw Kelly walking past the fence. She had a stick in her hand and she was hitting the fence. The dog got mad and started barking and then jumped at the fence. That is when Kelly dropped her drink. I think that she caused the problem because she was tormenting Daisy who is usually a good dog.

I asked Kelly if she hit Daisy’s fence with a stick. She admitted doing so and I ruled that she was the cause of losing her drink.

I thought about the cases that I had heard and realized that you need to listen to both sides carefully before jumping to any conclusions and making any decisions. My dad had previously told me that there is usually two stories of what happened and often one story is usually not the full truth. I thought of it differently. One side may not be telling me everything.

Word of my little court spread through the neighborhood. I was surprised to receive a request from two of my neighbors. The claim was that one neighbor was spraying some kind of weed killer in his planter when he over sprayed and killed plants in the other neighbor’s planter. Their kids suggested that their parents let me decide the case.

Mr. Johnson asked me if I would decide their case. I said I could if Mr. Newell would agree as well. Mr. Newell thought the idea was ridiculous, but finally agreed to me making a neighborhood decision. This time I was being very careful to listen to the facts before coming to a conclusion.

Mr. Johnson said, I just planted four azalea plants. The plants came direct from the nursery and were filled with purple flowers. Mr. Newell sprayed his planter last week with a weed killer and now my plants no longer have flowers; just leaves. The weed killer killed off my azalea plants.

Mr. Newell showed me the container he used. Very clearly on the container it was stated, This product is safe around azalea plants. Mr. Newell said, My product couldn’t have killed his azalea plants.

I thought about the facts and remembered that my house had azalea plants with bright colors. We went out back to look at our plants and all the flowers were gone as well. My mother saw all the commotion and asked what was wrong.

I explained that we are in court and there is a question of killing off azalea plants because the flowers are all gone.

Mom replied, Azalea plants only keep their flowers for a couple of weeks and then drop the flowers. If you check with the nursery, you will learn that by this time of year, the plants no longer have flowers and it would have nothing to do with the weed killer you mentioned. I use it in my flower beds all the time.

Mr. Johnson checked with the nursery and learned that the flowers should have dropped by now. Case closed.

CHAPTER TWO

Open Kourt House

A t age seven, I began my career as a judge. My neighborhood knew me and understood that I could be fair and impartial in making decisions. I had learned about fairness, called equity in the law. I believed that when I made a decision to punish behavior that I did so impartially and without regard to the parties involved. I had proven my ability to resolve disputes early on and wanted to pursue my life as a neighborhood judge.

It was my eighth birthday and my brothers Tom and Gary asked me what I would like as a present from them.

I replied, I like being a judge for the neighborhood. I would like to use our back porch, if it is all right with mom and dad, to set up a courtroom to hear cases arising from our neighborhood.

I called in some favors from my brothers Tom and Gary. Our back porch was fairly large and covered making it useable in the hot sun or rain. We had a desk in the garage and several tables and chairs that we used when entertaining guests at Thanksgiving and Christmas. I asked to use the desk and tables to set up my courthouse. My parents agreed.

Gary and Tom were wonderful. They packed the heavy desk and placed it on the porch along with two rectangular tables and four chairs. My desk had the old office chair that was a little dusty, but it still worked fine. The desk and chair was part of my dad’s home office until the room was needed for Cynthia. When we set up the desk and tables, I noticed that I couldn’t see over the desk very well.

Gary said, "Judge Amy, I will build a platform for your chair and your desk. That will raise you up like a real judge.

I was so excited and thanked Gary and Tom for their help.

Gary built a wooden box that raised my chair up by one foot and then built a narrow table on top of the desk for my writing area. The porch was beginning to look like a courtroom, but our tables and chairs were old and dirty looking from being in the garage for so long. Mom and dad gave us permission to paint the desk black and we used table cloths to cover the tables. I decided that I couldn’t do anything about the chairs except wash them off.

We finished the initial courtroom set up and painted the outside of the desk. I liked my desk; at least until I opened the top drawer and a large brown spider was living in the drawer. I screamed and slammed the desk drawer shut. Gary came to my aid and cleaned out the desk so I wouldn’t find any more unwelcomed visitors.

Mom informed us that we were going out for pizza for my birthday. After dinner, Mom handed me my first present. I opened it and it was a black robe like the judges wear on television. It was just my size too.

Mom said, If you are going to be a judge, then you should look like one too.

I looked around and asked mom where dad and boys went.

Mom replied, To get the rest of your birthday present. You will see it when you get home.

Mom and I pulled into the driveway and Gary yelled out, Amy, we are in the courtroom. Come and see.

I walked around the house and when I stepped onto the porch, I couldn’t believe my eyes. My family bought black table covers for the tables and bought me twelve black folding chairs for the tables and guests. I was so very happy that I hugged mom, dad, Gary and Tom.

Tom said, Amy, there is one more present for you. I made this in shop class for you.

I opened the gift and it was my own gavel with my name engraved on the side of the hammerhead. Gary handed me a knock block that he made. Gary explained that that I am to hit the gavel on the block when needed. Gary burned into the wood, Judge Amy.

Dad and mom let me put up a sign in the front yard which read, AMY’S NEIGHBORHOOD KOURTHOUSE. So what if Tom didn’t spell ‘court’ correctly, I liked the way it was spelled.

I would come home after school anticipating receiving my first case in the new courtroom. Two full weeks went by without any cases. I became disappointed and believed that my idea was more a waste of time than a community service.

I asked Tom and Gary to spread the word that the neighborhood court was in session, but by appointment only. Still nothing! I became so discouraged that I was ready to quit.

I was taking off my black robe when Jamison stopped by the Kourt and asked me if I would hear his dispute with Roger.

I replied, I will, but I can’t discuss your case unless Roger is before me at the same time. I can’t talk with just one side. That is the rule of my court. I believe in fairness.

Jamison left, but returned twenty minutes later with Roger and a witness to their dispute. I was getting so excited. I directed Jamison and Roger to the courtroom and I took the bench and called docket number one. I asked Jamison and Roger to swear that they would tell me the truth. They agreed and also agreed to my judgment, whatever it turned out to be.

I told Jamison to go first and tell me what happened.

Jamison said, I rode my new bicycle to school. When I left school, I saw Roger riding my bike away from the school. I walked to Roger’s house and retrieved my bike. He scratched up the side when he let it hit the ground and slide. Roger owes me a new bike or I am going to break his face.

I asked Roger to tell me what happened.

Roger explained, My mother is pregnant and called me at school because her water broke and she slipped and fell. She called an ambulance, but I felt the need to get help to my mother right away. I saw Jamison’s bike and I took it and rode it to my house. I was careless in how I set down the bike, but my mother was my concern at that time; not Jamison’s bike. I’m sorry for taking the bike. My parents don’t have the money to buy me a bike and I know that they won’t be able to buy Jamison a new bike either. All I can say is that I am sorry.

Jamison then turned to me and said, Well, Judge. What is your decision?

I thought to myself…being a judge is hard work. I asked Jamison what he thought his damage was. I explained that the bike was scratched, but was still in good working condition.

Jamison replied, I don’t know for sure. My mom paid $127 for the bike at Christmas. It was almost new when Roger took it.

I decided that a direct decision may not work and I asked to take their matter under consideration. I would give them my decision tomorrow. In the meantime, I looked closely at Jamison’s bike and only the metallic red paint was scratched. I contacted the bike dealer and learned that you can buy a bottle of touch up paint for $3.49. The next day, I entered judgment against Roger for $3.49 and he had to do the touch up painting if agreed to by Jamison.

Jamison rode his bike by my house and showed me that it looked as good as new and thanked me for my good job. He said that he and Roger did the touch-up work together.

I looked around and no one was present. I took my gavel and said, Case closed.

It didn’t take too long waiting for my next case. Jennifer called me on the phone to see if I was still handling disputes.

I replied, Yes I am. Get the other party together and then arrange for a time for me to hear the dispute. Right now I am available every day after 3:00 pm and all day Saturday.

Jennifer said that she would try to talk Keri into participating in the problem solving.

I replied, This isn’t math. This is Amy’s Kourt and I am the judge.

Jennifer replied, Ya Ya, I know already. That is why I am here.

Keri called me and agreed to have me hear their dispute. I was curious because I was close friends with Keri and Jennifer. We had been in school together since kindergarten. I felt good that they trusted me to hear their dispute and enter judgment.

I brought Keri and Jennifer into the courtroom. Each of them brought a witness and another friend. Everyone said they would tell me the truth.

I asked Jennifer to tell her story.

Jennifer said, "I had a sleepover and my mom would only allow me to have two friends. Sorry Amy.