{"id":5813,"date":"2021-10-26T16:08:21","date_gmt":"2021-10-26T16:08:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/?p=5813"},"modified":"2023-03-27T15:59:13","modified_gmt":"2023-03-27T15:59:13","slug":"ardor-in-the-court-a-judge-and-his-toys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2021\/10\/26\/ardor-in-the-court-a-judge-and-his-toys\/","title":{"rendered":"Ardor in the court: a judge and his toys"},"content":{"rendered":"

If someone asked you to picture a judge\u2019s chambers, you might imagine a room from a “Law & Order” episode, with quilted leather furniture, towering wooden bookcases, and draping maroon curtains. You may see an American flag or thick stacks of tattered law books or portraits of old people in scalloped gold picture frames.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You probably wouldn’t picture an extensive toy car collection, a secret candy drawer, or a framed 18×24-inch poster of “The Three Stooges.” But then again, you\u2019ve probably never visited the chambers of the Honorable Archie L. Smith III. Because the first time you walk into the office of this judge and clerk of Superior Court, who has over 45 years of law experience (and white hair to prove it), you might wonder whether he shares the space with a third grader.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On Smith\u2019s wooden desk, a thick stack of papers covered in red annotations is situated right next to a tray full of colorful action figures, among them Snoopy and Smurfette. His deck of business cards, each featuring the great seal of the state of North Carolina, rests beside a tasteful assortment of food-shaped erasers. The wooden plaque with a golden gavel recognizing Smith\u2019s service as president of the state conference of superior court clerks is barely even visible behind his arrangement of magic crystal balls.<\/span><\/p>\n

And yet, there\u2019s no third grader in sight. Just a gleeful 71-year-old Durhamite who wouldn\u2019t dare take himself too seriously. The way he sees it, if he can refer to his desk as \u201cthe command post of the Starship Archie,\u201d why wouldn\u2019t he?<\/span><\/p>\n

Once you climb aboard the ship, the first thing you\u2019ll notice is Smith\u2019s impressive wall of credentials. A 4×5 grid of various-sized, slightly crooked picture frames, showing off Smith\u2019s degrees, certificates, and awards. It\u2019s not an ego wall, though. It\u2019s a wall of mileposts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt gives me continuity with where I am now and how I\u2019ve come along,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Then, thinking that sounds too serious, he grins and adds, \u201cAnd what else are you going to do with framed things?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Below the frames, behind the command post, is another desk which holds Smith\u2019s black Lenovo laptop, open but idle. It\u2019s used for \u201cthis and that,\u201d mostly communication. But when it comes to questions of the law, Smith much prefers to walk to the glass cabinet a few steps away and pull out one of 30-plus dark green law books, each dedicated to a different general statute of North Carolina. The books are exhaustive, but in his experience, Smith has found they don\u2019t quite cover it all. So, he\u2019s found alternative methods.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

For example:<\/span><\/p>\n

If you came into Smith\u2019s office to discuss a complicated motor vehicle collision, he may ask you to \u201chold on a sec\u201d while he pulls two toy cars out of a drawer. \u201cLet\u2019s reconstruct the wreck,\u201d he\u2019ll say.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Archie Smith’s office has the requisite wall of framed credentials. But it also has plenty of knickknacks and tchotchkes. Photo by Josie Vonk – The 9th Street Journal<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you begin to cry at Smith\u2019s desk while explaining the details of your case, he\u2019ll most likely reach into his secret candy drawer and hand you a Lindor Truffle. \u201cA little chocolate will make you feel better,\u201d he\u2019ll say.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you find yourself angry in Smith\u2019s office while talking about how somebody wronged you, he\u2019ll grab a gag voodoo doll from another drawer (How many drawers does this guy have, anyway?) and offer you the opportunity to curse your enemy with \u201cflatulence\u201d or \u201cbad breath.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

If you ask him what\u2019s gonna happen with your case, and he\u2019s not quite sure, he\u2019ll grab a translucent crystal ball out of its ornate golden stand on his desk. He\u2019ll hold it in both hands and gaze deeply into it for a while before looking up at you and saying: \u201cI can\u2019t tell you right now how your case is gonna turn out. I would if I could. Been trying to find one of these that works, but none of \u2018em do. If I find one, I\u2019ll call you right away.\u201d Twelve crystal balls later, he\u2019s still searching.<\/span><\/p>\n

And if you were to ask Smith why he does these things, these totally unnecessary but completely charming things, he\u2019ll tell you that he simply can\u2019t help himself. He loves whimsy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, some of the things in this office have nothing to do with anything,\u201d he\u2019ll tell you, as though you didn\u2019t already know that.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He might be referring to the 6-foot tall bonsai tree standing by the window that was given to him 30 years ago when it was just \u201can itty-bitty desk thing.\u201d Or maybe he\u2019s talking about the literal pile of rocks that sit in a bowl on a shelf.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re little curiosities. I mean, I bet you don\u2019t have one of these,\u201d he says, grabbing a wind-up toy scorpion and letting it inch across the table. \u201cI mean come on. That\u2019s<\/em> fun.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is the way Smith explains most things in the Starship Archie.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCan\u2019t throw that away,\u201d he\u2019ll say.<\/span><\/p>\n

Or \u201cThat tickles the hell out of me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Or \u201cWhere\u2019re you gonna find another one of these?? You need<\/em> one of these.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

There are some things so weird, though, even Smith doesn\u2019t know what to make of them; mostly gifts from his granddaughters, or his friend Fred, who \u201calways finds the darndest stuff.\u201d But you can\u2019t throw away a gift, Smith explains, and it would be ungracious not to display one.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hence, his tchotchkes take up most of the space on his shelves and room in the seemingly infinite drawers of his desk.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, there is one surface in Smith\u2019s office that\u2019s empty: a long wooden table just beyond the command post.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you ask Smith why that is, he\u2019ll tell you that this is where the serious business happens. Opposing lawyers argue over this table. Agreements are reached around it. Civilians\u2019 fates are decided.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe can get down to the real juice here,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But of course, the table is also used to celebrate staff birthdays, and, during the holidays, Smith uses it to display his \u201cCarolina Christmas tree,\u201d a little plastic evergreen with red tinsel. When there\u2019s no seriousness to attend to, Smith wants this table to serve the same function as \u201cthe kitchen table in your mom and dad\u2019s house.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The same goes for his red leather couch, which he hopes will remind you of your living room sofa at home. And for his two granddaughters, it does.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Whenever they come to visit, after tiring themselves out with their grandpa\u2019s toys, they\u2019ll inevitably pass out on this red couch. At which point Smith will go into his wardrobe, grab one of his two judge\u2019s robes, and drape it over them as a blanket. The blanket-robe is easily differentiable from the robe-robe. It\u2019s a significantly lighter shade of black, faded and frayed from years of naps. He doesn\u2019t mind though. He only really needs one.<\/span><\/p>\n

Smith knows that he\u2019s got an unusual number of knickknacks for a county clerk, or anyone for that matter. But he also knows that a little joy can go a long way in a courthouse. And even with all his things, Smith can get down sometimes.<\/span><\/p>\n

On these rare occasions, he\u2019ll open a drawer at the bottom of his desk, and reach for a manila folder labeled, in his carefully penciled script handwriting, \u201cThings Worth Thinking About.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s filled with old newspaper and magazine clippings, notes from his granddaughters, and printed-out mantras. If you ask, he\u2019ll take some of his favorites out and show them to you. But when you hand them back he\u2019ll say \u201cI\u2019m not tryna be profound or anything\u201d and divert your attention to the new model airplane Fred just bought him.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you ever do have the pleasure of visiting the Starship Archie, on your way out, after Smith has offered you a parting mint, but before you\u2019ve reached the doorway he might say, \u201cI don\u2019t wanna give the impression that I’m a lunatic, but I just like to enjoy life.\u201d And you might think to yourself: boy, did \u201cLaw & Order\u201d get it wrong.<\/span><\/p>\n

Photo of Archie Smith in the Starship Archie by Josie Vonk – The 9th Street Journal<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If someone asked you to picture a judge\u2019s chambers, you might imagine a room from a “Law & Order” episode, with quilted leather furniture, towering…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5814,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[61,111],"class_list":["post-5813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-courthouse-project","tag-clerk-of-the-court","tag-durham-county-superior-court","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nArdor in the court: a judge and his toys - 9th Street Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2021\/10\/26\/ardor-in-the-court-a-judge-and-his-toys\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ardor in the court: a judge and his toys - 9th Street Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"If someone asked you to picture a judge\u2019s chambers, you might imagine a room from a “Law & Order” episode, with quilted leather furniture, towering…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2021\/10\/26\/ardor-in-the-court-a-judge-and-his-toys\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"9th Street Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-10-26T16:08:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-03-27T15:59:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/10\/Vonk_Archie-Smith_16_CC-e1635277764852.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"667\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"stepht@duke.edu\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"stepht@duke.edu\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2021\/10\/26\/ardor-in-the-court-a-judge-and-his-toys\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2021\/10\/26\/ardor-in-the-court-a-judge-and-his-toys\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"stepht@duke.edu\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#\/schema\/person\/915eb670c76ba64d4177f332f818a5e6\"},\"headline\":\"Ardor in the court: a judge and his toys\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-10-26T16:08:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-03-27T15:59:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2021\/10\/26\/ardor-in-the-court-a-judge-and-his-toys\/\"},\"wordCount\":1457,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2021\/10\/26\/ardor-in-the-court-a-judge-and-his-toys\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/10\/Vonk_Archie-Smith_16_CC-e1635277764852.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Clerk of the Court\",\"Durham County Superior Court\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Courthouse Project\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2021\/10\/26\/ardor-in-the-court-a-judge-and-his-toys\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2021\/10\/26\/ardor-in-the-court-a-judge-and-his-toys\/\",\"name\":\"Ardor in the court: a judge and his toys - 9th Street Journal\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2021\/10\/26\/ardor-in-the-court-a-judge-and-his-toys\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2021\/10\/26\/ardor-in-the-court-a-judge-and-his-toys\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/10\/Vonk_Archie-Smith_16_CC-e1635277764852.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-10-26T16:08:21+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-03-27T15:59:13+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2021\/10\/26\/ardor-in-the-court-a-judge-and-his-toys\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2021\/10\/26\/ardor-in-the-court-a-judge-and-his-toys\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2021\/10\/26\/ardor-in-the-court-a-judge-and-his-toys\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/10\/Vonk_Archie-Smith_16_CC-e1635277764852.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/10\/Vonk_Archie-Smith_16_CC-e1635277764852.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":667},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2021\/10\/26\/ardor-in-the-court-a-judge-and-his-toys\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ardor in the court: a judge and his toys\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/\",\"name\":\"9th Street Journal\",\"description\":\"We cover Durham (and North Carolina politics)\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"9th Street Journal\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/09\/9th-Street-Journal-Logo-cropped.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/09\/9th-Street-Journal-Logo-cropped.jpeg\",\"width\":869,\"height\":104,\"caption\":\"9th Street Journal\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#\/schema\/person\/915eb670c76ba64d4177f332f818a5e6\",\"name\":\"stepht@duke.edu\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fd32b8b967cb1d5c75d96fa74981ba40?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fd32b8b967cb1d5c75d96fa74981ba40?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"stepht@duke.edu\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/centers-dewitt.sanford.duke.edu\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/author\/nicole-kagan\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ardor in the court: a judge and his toys - 9th Street Journal","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2021\/10\/26\/ardor-in-the-court-a-judge-and-his-toys\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ardor in the court: a judge and his toys - 9th Street Journal","og_description":"If someone asked you to picture a judge\u2019s chambers, you might imagine a room from a “Law & Order” episode, with quilted leather furniture, towering…","og_url":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2021\/10\/26\/ardor-in-the-court-a-judge-and-his-toys\/","og_site_name":"9th Street Journal","article_published_time":"2021-10-26T16:08:21+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-03-27T15:59:13+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":667,"url":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/10\/Vonk_Archie-Smith_16_CC-e1635277764852.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"stepht@duke.edu","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"stepht@duke.edu","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2021\/10\/26\/ardor-in-the-court-a-judge-and-his-toys\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2021\/10\/26\/ardor-in-the-court-a-judge-and-his-toys\/"},"author":{"name":"stepht@duke.edu","@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#\/schema\/person\/915eb670c76ba64d4177f332f818a5e6"},"headline":"Ardor in the court: a judge and his toys","datePublished":"2021-10-26T16:08:21+00:00","dateModified":"2023-03-27T15:59:13+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2021\/10\/26\/ardor-in-the-court-a-judge-and-his-toys\/"},"wordCount":1457,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2021\/10\/26\/ardor-in-the-court-a-judge-and-his-toys\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/10\/Vonk_Archie-Smith_16_CC-e1635277764852.jpg","keywords":["Clerk of the Court","Durham County Superior Court"],"articleSection":["Courthouse Project"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2021\/10\/26\/ardor-in-the-court-a-judge-and-his-toys\/","url":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2021\/10\/26\/ardor-in-the-court-a-judge-and-his-toys\/","name":"Ardor in the court: a judge and his toys - 9th Street Journal","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2021\/10\/26\/ardor-in-the-court-a-judge-and-his-toys\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2021\/10\/26\/ardor-in-the-court-a-judge-and-his-toys\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/10\/Vonk_Archie-Smith_16_CC-e1635277764852.jpg","datePublished":"2021-10-26T16:08:21+00:00","dateModified":"2023-03-27T15:59:13+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2021\/10\/26\/ardor-in-the-court-a-judge-and-his-toys\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2021\/10\/26\/ardor-in-the-court-a-judge-and-his-toys\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2021\/10\/26\/ardor-in-the-court-a-judge-and-his-toys\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/10\/Vonk_Archie-Smith_16_CC-e1635277764852.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/10\/Vonk_Archie-Smith_16_CC-e1635277764852.jpg","width":1000,"height":667},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/2021\/10\/26\/ardor-in-the-court-a-judge-and-his-toys\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Ardor in the court: a judge and his toys"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/","name":"9th Street Journal","description":"We cover Durham (and North Carolina politics)","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#organization","name":"9th Street Journal","url":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/09\/9th-Street-Journal-Logo-cropped.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2018\/09\/9th-Street-Journal-Logo-cropped.jpeg","width":869,"height":104,"caption":"9th Street Journal"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#\/schema\/person\/915eb670c76ba64d4177f332f818a5e6","name":"stepht@duke.edu","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fd32b8b967cb1d5c75d96fa74981ba40?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/fd32b8b967cb1d5c75d96fa74981ba40?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"stepht@duke.edu"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/centers-dewitt.sanford.duke.edu"],"url":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/author\/nicole-kagan\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5813"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5813"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5813\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5813"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/9thstreetjournal.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}