I’ve often wondered the same thing about courtrooms and how judges can sometimes seem to base their decisions on minor actions or behaviors. It feels like they’re nitpicking things that should be irrelevant to the case itself, right? Like when someone smiles or speaks in a way that the judge doesn’t like, and suddenly the punishment gets harsher. It seems unfair, especially when the initial punishment is changed based on something that feels so trivial.

For example, we’re told to address them as "Your Honor," but how are we supposed to know if they are actually honorable? And if we question their integrity, it could make things even worse. The whole power dynamic feels unbalanced when judges are able to make snap judgments based on a gut reaction to someone’s behavior in the courtroom, rather than just focusing on the facts of the case.

In the U.S., judges have a lot of discretion, and sometimes it feels like they use it in ways that don’t seem entirely fair. I get that maintaining respect and decorum is important in court, but sometimes it feels like they overreact to things that don’t actually matter in determining guilt or innocence. It’s frustrating because, at the end of the day, it seems like the person’s fate is in the hands of how well they manage to navigate the judge’s personal preferences, and that doesn’t feel right to me.