The Justice Center in Cleveland, Ohio takes up a whole city block downtown.

It's a cluster of concrete towers built in the 1970s.

I could hedge here, but I'm just going to say it.

The buildings are hideous, but practical.

The Justice Center houses in one location everything a justice system needs.

The city and county courts, the county jail, prosecutor's offices,

the sheriff's office, and headquarters for the Cleveland police. Roughly

speaking, the building functions like most hierarchies, vertically, in this case from the bowels up.

The main court tower is 26 stories high, so the elevator really runs the place.

If a person's arrested in Cleveland, they're coming into the

Justice Center from the basement. Weary cops escort suspects from the

underground parking garage. They get booked, go up a few floors to the jail. Once

they get a court date, they're riding up to one of the courtroom floors.

The lower floors are for lesser crimes, less hallowed proceedings,

misdemeanor's housing court.

And the higher floors, starting about halfway up the building, are for felonies.

Detectives wearing lanyards often get off on the ninth floor, where the prosecutor's office is.

The court's stenographers, always courteous, drag their squat wheelie cases on and off the elevator.

Maybe they chat for a few floors with the officers from the sheriff's department in search of a coffee and a muffin.

Defense attorneys are riding up and down all morning, muttering to each other, can you believe?

Griping about judges, who have their own judge elevators so they're not overhearing.

The elevator mainstays, of course course are crime victims and their families and

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