title: Judge Sentences: Tales from the Bench
author:  Dermot Meagher 
description: Provincetown Banner"<br /><br />Choice"<br /><br />Worcester Telegram"<br /><br />For a view into the unknown, retired judge Dermot Meagher opens the door to his chambers in a new collection of essays, Judge Sentences, in which he brings to life, with candor and eloquence, the court room where important decisions are made. <i><b>Provincetown Banner</b></i>"<br /><br />[Meagher] suggests a form of justice that is rendered with kindness and a sense of humor, rather than with Old Testament harshness and judgment. . . . The book is clearly written and a joy to read for those who want more insight into the human side of trial court justice. Recommended. <i><b>Choice</b></i>"<br /><br />Based on real-life cases that came before him during his 17 years on the bench, the stories in Judge Sentences are told from the unusual perspective of the man who occupied the best seat in the courtroom. With an eye for detail and an ear for dialogue, Mr. Meagher humanizes the judicial process by revealing some of the things that were going through his mind as the cases were unfolding, what former Supreme Judicial Court Justice Benjamin Kaplan once described as the various and subtle impulses toward decision. <i><b>Worcester Telegram</b></i>"<br /><br />-For a view into the unknown, retired judge Dermot Meagher opens the door to his chambers in a new collection of essays, Judge Sentences, in which he brings to life, with candor and eloquence, the court room where important decisions are made.---<i><b>Provincetown Banner</b></i><br /><br />-[Meagher] suggests a form of justice that is rendered with kindness and a sense of humor, rather than with Old Testament harshness and judgment. . . . The book is clearly written and a joy to read for those who want more insight into the 'human side' of trial court justice. Recommended.---<i><b>Choice</b></i><br /><br />-Based on real-life cases that came before him during his 17 years on the bench, the stories in Judge Sentences are told from the unusual perspective of the man who occupied the best seat in the courtroom. With an eye for detail and an ear for dialogue, Mr. Meagher humanizes the judicial process by revealing some of the things that were going through his mind as the cases were unfolding, what former Supreme Judicial Court Justice Benjamin Kaplan once described as 'the various and subtle impulses toward decision.- --<i><b>Worcester Telegram</b></i><br /><br />"For a view into the unknown, retired judge Dermot Meagher opens the door to his chambers in a new collection of essays, Judge Sentences, in which he brings to life, with candor and eloquence, the court room where important decisions are made."--<i><b>Provincetown Banner</b></i>
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  _For my editor, Carolyn Marino,_
  
   _who has always encouraged me to be tall._
  
   _And for Kiki and Peter._
  
   **Chapter 1**
  
  I edged forward on my pew in the gallery so I wouldn’t miss a single word. My
  ex-lover’s new girlfriend, Eve Eberlein, was about to be publicly humiliated
  by the Honorable Edward J. Thompson. I wanted to dance with joy right there in
  the courtroom. Hell hath no fury like a lawyer scorned.
  
  “Let me remind you of something you have plainly forgotten, Ms. Eberlein,”
  Judge Thompson was saying between discreetly clenched teeth. A bald,
  gentlemanly judge, his legendary patience had been tested by Eve’s attack on
  the elderly witness. “This is a court of law. There are rules of conduct.
  Civility, manners. One doesn’t check common courtesy at the door of my
  courtroom.”
  
  “Your Honor, this witness is not being candid with the court,” Eve said. Her
  spiky brunette cut bounced in defiance as she stood before the dais, in