Mr. Lammers Has No Rights . . .

Client is pleading guilty. Before the judge will accept the plea he has to question the client as to whether he understands the rights he is giving up, has discussed the case with his lawyer, and understands what he is charged with. The Judge begins his questioning:

Judge: Mr. Smith,you have a lot of rights in this courtroom. Mr. Lammers doesn't have any rights here. You have a number of rights . . .

Gotta admit, I was standing there in the half-listening state you find yourself in when hearing the same questions you've heard thousands of times. However, when I heard the judge strip me of all my civil liberties just because I had walked into his courtroom my head did snap up.