Edward W. Brooke Courthouse

I don’t understand why the door guards always act as if somebody had pissed in their morning cereal, or is it because they are such arsehorse which make people piss in their morning cereal, like a never ending karma. This is almost similar to the centuries old question: The chicken comes first or the egg comes first.
The majority of staffs here are as helpful as a 4 year old, they’d give you vaguely cryptic directions and explanation while yelling at you as if you were some insufferable fool. Which make you feel confused, angry and afraid. The frosting of the cupcake is that the staffs always look at you with judgemental eyes as if you have definitely committed a crime or more. When in reality, the most law defying act you’ve ever done were jaywalking.
I came to get some random certificate and they charged me $ 20 for practically a cheap A4 piece of paper. The cashier looked at my perplexed countenance with a slight sympathy of a hunter before his prey: I feel sorry for you, but I will relish your fear, your frustration as well as every part of your body. I left the courthouse a bit of my dying soul knowing I will have to come here again in the future whether I want to or not.
P/​s: the (general) courthouse can be a fun family field trip. Take your children there to witness Bureaucracy system, kinship betrayal, criminals prosecution… ect. The courthouse-​they know dramas. Just make sure to check your attitude and dignity at the guarded door.

I expect so little from government that I was pleasantly surprised about the services here when I attend a property closing.
Parking: Absurdly expensive but at least convenient located right across from the courthouse.
Security: Very simple; folks are polite despite getting a bunch of grief from one goof ball just ahead of me.
Closing Rooms: Small simple but functional conference rooms are easily accessible.
Finally given my low expectations, I did not walk away entirely in awe of this government establishment. Other than security my one interaction with an employee confirmed my long held opinion that you must pass a «miserable test» to get hired. The woman behind the customer service desk was the perfect government customer service representative; cranky, unhelpful and abrupt. Ah… the perfect person to represent the face of government.

Anyone who has served jury duty in Roxbury will quickly tell you that the Edward W. Brooke Courthouse is *really* not so bad. The court officer who checked my group in was very friendly and informative. He was also quick to process our paperwork, so we weren’t stuck standing in line for too long when we checked in at 8am. He kept us updated with which courts had cases and gave us a realistic impression of what we should expect our day to look like.
The building is clean and well-​kept, but could use some updates, like a coat of paint and new flooring in some offices. I’m sure it’s not easy to keep a courthouse looking good, since the people who travel through it are accused of crimes and may not have the utmost respect for the building. But it’s not like there are holes in the walls, they’re just dingy and scraped up.
As for the jury pool room, it’s way, way nicer than Roxbury. The chairs are relatively comfortable (solid wood, not gross fabric with mystery stains) and unbroken, and the carpet was not installed in the 80s like it was in Roxbury. There are two rooms to hang out in while you wait to be called, one smaller one with tables and vending machines, and one larger room that’s just rows of chairs. The vending machines have typical crap in them, but it’s better than nothing, right? The tables are key if you want to get some work done or read comfortably. There are only two tables though, so stake your claim right when the officer says you can move about the cabin. If you’re called to serve jury duty, you could absolutely do a lot worse than this place.

The two star review «Meh. I’ve experienced better.» isn’t really true since I haven’t experienced other court houses (thank God!). Well just a little bit when I got called to Jury Duty before but I don’t remember that court house.
I had Jury Duty last Friday here and waited in a room along with 20 others for about 5 hours until we were all dismissed. All four courts in this building — family, civil, criminal, and housing didn’t need a jury that day.
The place is huge and the signage is horrible. I walked around the 3^rd floor in circles trying to find the right room. I finally had to ask someone because it was impossible. The jury duty room is to the far RIGHT after you walk up the stairs near the bathroom and the elevator. DO NOT GO LEFT!
You get a break in the morning and then a break for lunch while you are waiting to get called. The court officer listed the options and they all sounded terrible (sorry I hate DDs) so I walked far away and went to the Equal Exchange Café about 10 mins away.
There is a little super tiny store on the 1^st floor of the Courthouse. It has some breakfast and lunch options should you like junk and unhealthy cholesterol-​laden food that will kill you one day. As a vegan I avoided it after a quick walk-​thru. There were some chips and nuts and drinks I could have partaken in, but I wanted a soy latte and a bagel with hummus. I got class what can I say. All the sandwiches contained meat — I didn’t see anything vegan or vegetarian. Plus you have to pay with cash. I think it’s nice they let someone have a local mom and pop business there but with such a huge courthouse that’s pretty nice looking — I’d expect a better arrangement, maybe even a café with healthier/​fresher options.
The court officer who worked with us was really nice but lord did he take his job seriously. Like super seriously to where it became amusing. I guess I don’t have a lot of respect for authority/​hierarchical traditions so I find it amusing when people follow the rules so stringently. One Judge did come in and talked to us for a bit (we had to stand up when he came and left). Then we watched a 20 min video. I liked how the room had a backroom (well front room in this case) so we could all spread out. The backroom has tables so get a chair early!
The whole building is COLD during the winter so make sure to have a good coat/​sweater to keep you warm. You also have to go through a metal detector each time you go into the building. But the security people are really nice
The bathrooms were ok, not as great as I expected. I don’t know, I guess I had higher standards for a gov’t building. Looks like everyone’s hurting in this economy.
When I checked-​in in the morning I was 10 minutes late (not a big deal) but other people were like 30, 45, even an hour late. That’s not fair to the rest of us.

Government workers are sooo rude and unfriendly. Why is that?
The building is nice, the bathrooms are reasonably clean, the courtrooms are very well designed and air conditioned (hear that Middlesex Probate).
As a person who frequents courthouses, this one has more open space and doesn’t feel as cramped. I like that. The elevators are nice too.
I had my first case in there, so it is forever in my heart.
Now, I hope I will win the next case :)

Today I served jury duty.
We were put in a jury pool room that was a double room. I was impressed that they kept us so well informed.
Both small rooms were really nice and we had our own bathrooms attached to the room.
There were also vending machines as well as a water cooler.
Everything was kept really clean and if I had to be stuck in a room I’m glad it was this one.

I love the architectural design of this building and it’s vaulted ceiling in the interior. But, I despise the service and the confusing layout there, not to mention the super long lines, unfriendly workers, and extremely overpriced service fee with everything.