Rhode Island law student was mistaken for a defendant. Now her TikTok has gone viral.

PROVIDENCE – A TikTok video chronicling a Roger Williams University School of Law student’s account of being mistaken for a defendant has gone viral, prompting dozens of lawyers of color across the nation to share similar experiences.

Brooklyn Crockton shared a video last week recounting being shuttled to the side by a deputy sheriff in state District Court, despite being second in line to enter the courtroom, in professional attire and with binders in her hand.

Crockton said the deputy let other lawyers through before commenting “I don’t have you on the docket.”

“Are you a defendant?”

Crockton was at the courthouse representing indigent clients through the law school’s experiential Criminal Defense Clinic. Senior law students are allowed to practice in court in Rhode Island under the supervision of a licensed lawyer.

“I have never been so embarrassed in my entire life, like I felt like crying in that moment,” Crockton, a third-year law student who is interested in corporate compliance, risk management and intellectual property, told her TiKTok viewers.

“You hear stories like this all the time with Black attorneys, but when it happens to you, it’s just so visceral,” she said.

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"Why would you assume that I was a defendant? I think we all know why," Crockton said.

Not just a Rhode Island problem

Andrew Horwitz, who oversees the law clinic, said Tuesday that he didn’t witness the interaction, but commiserated with Crockton in the aftermath.

“This is not a Rhode Island problem. This is not a District Court problem. This is a serious, pervasive, tragic problem across the United States. It’s a reflection of the biases we all carry around,” said Horwitz, adding that he’s witnessed countless similar exchanges through the years.

He hopes, he said, that additional training takes place to increase sensitivity to issues of race, gender and disabilities.

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District Court Judge Melissa DuBose, who mentors Crockton, shared the video with Chief Justice Paul A. Suttell, the State Court Administrator Julie Hamil and the Supreme Court’s Committee on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts, Craig N. Berke, spokesman for the courts, said Tuesday.

Hamil has reached out to the Sheriffs Division — which provides security for the courts and drives people between the courthouse and prison — about Crockton’s account, Berke said.

“While both the Judiciary and the Sheriffs require implicit bias training for its staff, an encounter like this is an opportunity to talk about and challenge the assumptions we make about the people [who] come through our courthouses every day,” Berke said in an email.

"It takes collective action"

Crockton told her followers that the deputy apologized — a gesture that lacked “an ounce of emotion” — and proceeded to patronize her by explaining well-known courtroom protocols as if she was a novice. She found him overly nice but offensive.

District Court Judge Christopher Knox Smith, a Roger Williams Law graduate and one of three District Court judges of color in the state, then took the bench.

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Crockton, who was raised by her grandmother in Rochester, N.Y., and said she is the first in her family to attend college and law school, did not identify the deputy, recognizing that she must continue to work in this “tiny, tiny” state.

“This journey is hard enough without the microaggressions of those who feel like we do not belong. This interaction will stay with me for the rest of my life,” Crockton posted on LinkedIn, urging people not to tolerate racism and bias. Crockton’s post was first reported by The Boston Globe.

David DeCesare, chief sheriff of the Division of Sheriffs, did not respond to a phone message left Tuesday.

Crockton’s experience has resonated with many others in the legal community, who shared reflections on what they refer to as the “very dark cloud” that hangs over the legal profession.

“This is a really challenging problem. This is pervasive. This is of national scope,” said Gregory W. Bowman, dean of Roger Williams University School of Law.

He praised Crocken for her bravery in speaking out to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.

“She is through her testimony making a difference,” Bowman said.

Bowman plans to meet with Chief Justice Paul Suttell, leaders of the Rhode Island Bar Association and law school faculty to address the issue. He also reached out to Gov. Dan McKee’s office.

“We’re highly engaged in this right now. This is not an issue that can be solved by any one person. It takes collective action,” Bowman said.

Roger Williams University School of Law this fall became among the first law schools in the nation to introduce a required course — “Race & the Foundations of American Law” — for second-year students. The mission is to infuse future lawyers to approach the profession with compassion, as advocates for change.

“I think we’re going to be training a better group of lawyers because of this course,” Bowman said.

A Rhode Island Bar Association membership survey released last year indicates that Crockton is not alone.

The survey found that a majority of respondents encountered discrimination — including instances of racism, sexism, homophobia and prejudice based on a person’s disability — in the profession and in the Rhode Island court system. Female attorneys, lawyers of color, LGBT lawyers and those with disabilities reported experiencing barriers to their professional career, such as disparate treatment, lower pay and fewer opportunities to advance.

Their accounts included lawyers of color being mistaken as defendants by judges or court staff in criminal cases and lesser treatment of lawyers and litigants of color. Incidences of sexism encompassed sexual harassment by judges, colleagues and other lawyers toward female attorneys. Several referred to the legal community in Rhode Island as an “old boys’ club,” according to the survey, which polled 300-plus of the association’s 5,000-plus members.

The Committee on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts in November launched an initiative, led by the National Center for State Courts, to facilitate internal conversations and training on racial and ethnic fairness, equity, and inclusion. Eighty members of the judiciary’s workforce, including 30 judicial officers, volunteered to participate in small-group discussions about race, diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace and the legal profession.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Rhode Island District court sheriff mistakes law student for defendant