A weighty judicial matter: Blankets in the courtroom

FRIDAY, Dec. 27 — Judge Cynthia Ward loses sleep over some of the stories she hears on the bench.

So, she reasoned, those same witnesses must be undergoing significant stress in telling their stories.

Which is why she introduced weighted blankets to her courtroom today.

"When I started reading about their calm-inducing benefits," said Ward, who was reelected in November to a second term in Lansing's 54-A District Court, "I was sure some of the crime victims could benefit from it, particularly victims of domestic violence and sexual assault."

Ward, who uses one for sleep herself, says it "may help" her with her general sleep anxiety.

Judge Cynthia Ward

Some scientific evidence is on her side.

Dr. Adam Perlman, director of Integrative Health and Wellbeing at Mayo Clinic Florida, said small clinical trials "have shown that people who use weighted blankets do report better sleep. They report less stress and anxiety, and there's even one small study where they reported less pain," according to a Mayo Clinic press release.

Perlman said they act the same way a hug can: They give you a surge of "feel-good hormones" and a decrease of "stress hormones."

Ward said judges are "always thinking about ways people who access court can fully access it."

That includes the ability to "tell your story" as fully and calmly as possible—not easy, particularly under often stressful cross-examination, no matter how well one's attorney may have prepared a witness.

"People do not remember everything under stress," Ward said. "A jury may find them less credible."

It's like forgetting an answer during an exam, she explained, recalling a personal experience in college. "Of course, as I walked to the bus stop after the test, the answer popped into my head."

If a victim is "not calm, they are not really experiencing justice," she added.

Ward tested her theory in court for the first time today by putting a weighted blanket near the witness stand. She asked the prosecutor and defense attorney to approach so she could inform them of what she was doing and why.

"The prosecutor thought that's just great. The defense attorney was perhaps a little less enthusiastic," she laughed.

Then, an alleged sexual assault victim took the stand. The judge told her to feel free to use the blanket.

"I could see her anxiety," said Ward. "I was right next to the person."

The witness, however, did not avail herself of the blanket.

A following case involved another woman who was an alleged domestic violence victim.

"She went for it immediately and placed it on her lap," Ward said.

Stress balls are more common in courtrooms, including Ward's.

"She started with the weighted blanket," Ward said. "During the cross-examination, when you're becoming less calm, she went for the stress balls."

What's the judge's verdict on how the blanket affected the two witnesses' testimony?

"They both got their stories across," she said with appropriate judicial restraint. "They were both compelling witnesses."