In Tiny Courts of New York, Abuses of Law and Power

NY Times ^ | September 25, 2006 | WILLIAM GLABERSON

[A CA Guy]

UNIONS AND THE MOB.

[martin_fierro]

In Tiny Courts of New York, Abuses of Law and Power

And on the other end of the spectrum....

[pierrem15]

"For the nearly 75 percent of justices who are not lawyers, the only initial training is six days of state-administered classes, followed by a true-or-false test so rudimentary that the official who runs it said only one candidate since 1999 had failed. A sample question for the justices: “Town and village justices must maintain dignity, order and decorum in their courtrooms” — true or false?

The result, records and interviews show, is a second-class system of justice.

The first class — the city, county and higher courts — is familiar to anyone who has served on a jury or watched “Law & Order”: hardly perfect, but a place of law-schooled judges, support staffs and strict rules. The lower and far larger rung of town and village courts relies on part-time justices, most of them poorly paid, some without a single clerk. Those justices — two-thirds of all the state’s judges — are not required to make transcripts or tape recordings of what goes on, so it is often difficult to appeal their decisions."

The abuses are real, but I have to giggle at the pretensions of the Times that trained lawyers are the answer. The best liars and screwers of other people in the legal system are lawyers, and to every instance of abuse by the mere peon citizenry listed in this article, I can cite probably ten others in NY State of other judges and attorneys who have abused their position, railroaded people, lied, cheated and embezzeled.

Reforms, particularly the need for transcripts and restrictions on the power to jail, are probably needed. But this piece drips such condescension on ordinary people that it's a stunning portrait of what libs really think about the rest of us.

I mean, image that, someone with only a high school diploma trying to adjudicate the complexity of a traffic citation. But getting felons, welfare cheats and drug addicts to vote; well, that's a fundamental liberty.

[neverdem]

It's a good time to resurrect this thread. I had forgotten about it.

Injured Hillary Cop Silenced?

FReepmail me if you want on or off my New York ping list.

[The Mayor]

Sounds like here in WNY..

[neverdem]

UNIONS AND THE MOB.

Huh?

[FreedomCalls]

Eeric D. Bailey, a 21-year-old black soldier from nearby Fort Drum, was facing a disorderly conduct charge after a tussle with a white bar bouncer. Sitting three feet from Mr. Bailey, the bouncer identified him as “that colored man.” Mr. Bailey’s jaw dropped. The soldier, who did not have a lawyer, told the judge that the term was offensive. But Justice Pennington said that while certain other words were racist, “colored” was not.

If it is, the NAACP has to change its name. Until they do, one has to assume it's neither racist nor offensive.

[Doctor Raoul]

National Association For the Adancement of Who?

I'm sorry, but I'm sick and tired of the PC terrorists being able to drop a charge of racism based solely on "I AM offened" as a reason.

[Doctor Raoul]

Ditto for the United Negro College Fund.

[eleni121]

UNIONS AND THE MOB.
Huh?

---

why the huh? You know as well as anyone (doncha?) that it is unions and mobs that control most functions of this God forsaken state.

[A CA Guy]

I know personally that the east coast teamsters were the mob, at least when I was a child.

I haven't gone back since a kid though. Great move IMO.

[durasell]

Now it's Wall Street.

[Hong Kong Expat]

You say that like it's a bad thing. Without those guys we'd be like Mississippi or Alabama.

[neverdem]

I was grabbed by the by the story about the black soldier, and the apparent reaction by the author to the word "colored," implying that it was racist terminology. If so, how come the NAACP has not changed its name yet? It maybe archaic, but it isn't inherently racist. Various whites are called "white devils," and no one bats an eye.

[neverdem]

why the huh? You know as well as anyone (doncha?) that it is unions and mobs that control most functions of this God forsaken state.

I'll buy that argument in densely populated areas of the state, not the rural parts.

[A CA Guy]

The mob is business oriented, so if the action was somehow rural, they could be there to if it was lucrative.

[durasell]

There isn't enough money in the rural parts for them to pursue.

[neverdem]

There isn't enough money in the rural parts for them to pursue.

Neither do I recall any example in the story that hinted of mob or union influence.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!