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The Hell With the Law

By TChris, Section Judiciary
Posted on Sun Sep 24, 2006 at 07:26:29 PM EST
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by TChris

New York isn't the only jurisdiction to vest significant power in judges who have little acquaintance with the law. The problems exposed by the NY Times' investigation of municipal courts (inaptly named "justice courts") abound in other states. Still, some of the Times' examples of injustice are particularly egregious:

People have been sent to jail without a guilty plea or a trial, or tossed from their homes without a proper proceeding. In violation of the law, defendants have been refused lawyers, or sentenced to weeks in jail because they cannot pay a fine. Frightened women have been denied protection from abuse. ...

A mother of four ... went to court in that North Country village seeking an order of protection against her husband, who the police said had choked her, kicked her in the stomach and threatened to kill her. The justice, Donald R. Roberts, a former state trooper with a high school diploma, not only refused, according to state officials, but later told the court clerk, "Every woman needs a good pounding every now and then."

A black soldier charged in a bar fight near Fort Drum became alarmed when his accuser described him in court as "that colored man." But the village justice, Charles A. Pennington, a boat hauler and a high school graduate, denied his objections and later convicted him. "You know," the justice said, "I could understand if he would have called you a Negro, or he had called you a nigger."

And several people in the small town of Dannemora were intimidated by their longtime justice, Thomas R. Buckley, a phone-company repairman who cursed at defendants and jailed them without bail or a trial, state disciplinary officials found. Feuding with a neighbor over her dog's running loose, he threatened to jail her and ordered the dog killed.

"I just follow my own common sense," Mr. Buckley, in an interview, said of his 13 years on the bench. "And the hell with the law."

Buckley articulated the Bush philosophy, adopted widely by modern conservatives: allow your own warped "common sense" to dictate your actions, and "the hell with the law."

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    The Hell With the Law | 7 comments (7 topical)
    Re: The Hell With the Law (none / 0) (#1)
    by cpinva on Sun Sep 24, 2006 at 09:17:26 PM EST
    Buckley articulated the Bush philosophy, adopted widely by modern conservatives: allow your own warped "common sense" to dictate your actions, and "the hell with the law."
    um, what "common sense"?

    Re: The Hell With the Law (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Sun Sep 24, 2006 at 10:40:24 PM EST
    Reminds me of a story told by our late district judge. He was coaching baseball at a rural high school, decked a lippy farmkid and got arrested. Taken to the home of the justice of peace and seated at the kitchen table. The old man shuffled in in his slippers and said "the prisoner will rise to hear his sentence". Judge K said " I figured right then there had to be a better way."

    Re: The Hell With the Law (none / 0) (#4)
    by roger on Mon Sep 25, 2006 at 03:11:25 AM EST
    In upstate NY, the judges who are lawyers are not a whole lot better.

    Re: The Hell With the Law (none / 0) (#5)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Sep 25, 2006 at 10:10:39 AM EST
    Roger: In my experience, you couldn't be more wrong. The justices who are NOT attorneys are pretty useless anachronisms (and many will admit as much). The ones that are attorneys overwhelmingly know the law and know it well. Truth be told, many of these justices are good human beings and are very often pillars of their respective communities. They often did not have the benefit of parents who cherished education for their children. Many took the job just to make ends meet in their retirement! Many that I know wish that they had had the educational opportunities that we attorneys very often take for granted. Still, law is best handled by lawyers. After all, would you go to a mechanic for a blood test? No? Then why the hell should we expect citizens to expect justice from a system that has only a nominal connection with the law? The NYS Legislature needs to buckle down and do something it has forever refused to do: make it a requirement for ANY AND ALL justices to have both a law degree and be admitted to practice law in NYS (& be in good standing). The claim is that this will be too expensive for NYS to afford. Excuse me? TOO expensive? Well, then, how much justice can you afford? Frankly, and for the record, the NYSBA could (and should!) step into the breach here as well. Like I suspect most attorneys would, I would consider it an honor to serve in the capacity of village or town justice - without pay even! - for a year or more, in order to uphold both the nobility of the profession and (most importantly) the overriding importance of respect for the rule of law. Look at it as pro bono work for the community-at-large. After all, most of us attorneys would love to wear the black robe. Even for free. Because it's NOT always about the money, it's very often about the idealism that goes hand in hand with being an Officer of the Court. Conservative or liberal, when you get right down to it, it's ALL about seeing to it that justice is done. Period.

    Re: The Hell With the Law (none / 0) (#6)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Sep 25, 2006 at 11:07:05 AM EST
    I've known a number of non-lawyer judges. This county currently has four JPs, two lawyer and two not. By and large the non-lawyer judges I've known took the job seriously and tried hard to get it right. They don't always get it of course. Oregon does have more training available than New York appears to have.

    Re: The Hell With the Law (none / 0) (#7)
    by roger on Mon Sep 25, 2006 at 02:21:26 PM EST
    Lavocat, I have dealt with too many corrupt judges in upstate NY to have respect for any of them, lawyers or not. I am pretty well known in those parts, so you may know me. Do you go to the NORML conf? We could discuss this over a beer (or three)

    Re: The Hell With the Law (none / 0) (#8)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Mon Sep 25, 2006 at 07:24:09 PM EST
    Roger: Nope. I'm too busy doing 80+ hour weeks. Needless to say, I don't get out much. I basically work and sleep (and check TL between cases). The work is hard but I love it. Funny thing about that NYT article. I know a few of the judges quoted. I just wish the NYT had focused on a specific county - like Columbia County. Talk about Bizarro Land! All I can say is that you do NOT want to have to deal with judges from that county. Say no more. Most of all, I feel sorry for those in the system that go pro se. You're basically screwed without an attorney.

    The Hell With the Law | 7 comments (7 topical)