I learned a lot about justice during the two years I spent in Job Corps. This is an almost college-like setting where one can learn a trade and those who didn't graduate High School, can get their GED. I'd already graduated, but went because I didn't yet know what I wanted to do in life.

Set just outside of Hazleton, Pennsylvania in a small town called Drums, Keystone Job Corps was a beautiful setting in which to plan your life. I lived in the largest dorm and it was almost like a little city unto itself.

In it, we had something called Dorm Court, where students were judged for any infractions they committed. One day, I noticed a line forming outside one of the Honor Rooms. These rooms were given to people that had seniority or important titles. Being new, I inquired as to what was going on. "Oh, that's where everyone goes to pay their bribes" said a knowledgeable student. Turns out there was a group of court justices openly selling their votes. It'd been going on for some time.

Hustling for bribes

I ended up calling these guys: "The Gang of Four." The court was composed of a Chief Justice and three Associate Justice along with a Secretary. All had an equal vote. If you wanted a slap on the wrist or to get off if you committed a "crime" you could pay to have it "taken care of." If you disliked someone, you could pay to have them written up (the justices also had this power) and pay again to ensure their conviction.

It was crazy.

Many of the kids were poor and couldn't really afford to pay for votes but the system was rigged against them...

Let's say you went to court because you failed a dorm inspection and didn't have the money to pay the bribe. You could be given a warning, community service and/or a fine. Remember, these are poor kids from New York to Virginia. Some of them were given the choice of jail or Job Corps. If they got too many convictions, they could be kicked out and sent to prison. In the example above of our failed dorm inspection guy, say he was given a warning and five hours of community service.

He'd serve those hours one a day for five days. If he was even one second late, that would trigger a violation and he'd be back in Court. I should know. In the two years I was there, I was written up only once: for being EIGHT SECONDS late for a student meeting. Three of us were given verbal warnings because we were at the end of a long line waiting to get in, and we were all late a total of less than 30 seconds.

These minor infractions could keep being triggered until the student was eventually thrown out of the center.

Something had to be done.

An honest man steps up to the plate

Looking around, I saw that the only honest dorm officer was The President. He had no real power, but as a genuine religious man and one of the oldest students, he had a lot of moral authority. Since I was known for being honest, he advised me to apply for an upcoming vacancy on the Court. The position opening up? Secretary.

The Secretary spot on the Court was the one nobody wanted. The job consisted of keeping the minutes, deciding the dates and times we would meet, calling the order students would appear and most importantly; safeguarding the write-ups.

I quickly realized that if used correctly this position could actually end up smashing the power of "The Gang of Four" and ensure justice since it was secretly the most powerful position on the Court. Nobody knew it. But I did...

The only elected office was President. Justices were appointed by the Counselor, so I began meeting with him and explaining my plans to clean up the mess. He'd heard support for me from the President, but advised me to become the Dorm Inspector first in order to prove myself and become more known in the dorm.

Our dorm was known as the filthiest one on campus. Consistently last or near last in the weekly ratings. Like almost all of the other offices, the Dorm Inspector also accepted bribes in order for the rooms to win a passing score. He'd "inspect" the sections, write his score down, then while we were in classes, the maintenance guy would do his own correct inspection and we'd fail. Again and again and again.

All of that ended on the day I took over.

If everyone likes you, you're doing something wrong...

Clipboard in hand, I began to conduct the first honest inspections we'd had in years. Every scrap of paper and dust ball was noted. I got down and checked under the beds and desks. Pulled furniture out and checked on top of the lockers. I failed every single room that first day, but most importantly, I left notes on what they needed to do in order to pass. The Counselor knew something had changed when he had a group of important students complaining about me failing their rooms. With a chuckle, he looked at my photos and reports and told me to carry on.

Did I make enemies? You bet, but there was a small but growing number of people who liked what they were seeing and gave me their support. In the basement was section J, the dirtiest and most despised group in the building. The leader was a smart and honest guy who wanted to improve the bad reputation of his section. Working closely with me, his area became the first to pass my inspection and the inspiration that helped turn the entire Dorm around.

I checked the rooms at times in reverse order or even random order to keep everyone on their toes. I made it like a little competition, telling everyone that Section J was way ahead of them. Slowly, we began rising in the ratings until we became number 1. At that point, the Secretary graduated leaving the position open. After naming the leader of Section J as my like-minded replacement as Inspector, I became the only honest Justice as the new Dorm Court Secretary and that's when all hell broke loose.