The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-08-19
TRICKS OF DOGBERRY ROW.
How the School Fund is Cheated Out of
Thousands of Dollars Yearly.
The Dark Ways and Dishonest Practices in
the Justices COurts-The Systematic
Scheme of Turning Fines Into Fees.

There are more dark, dubious and eccentric
things in the manipulation of fines and fees in
Offices of the justices Of the peace of this city,
by the persons who do the criminal business of
these petty courts, than many people in their
philosophy have drea-nt of. The lawyers-those
those who practice in the justice shops-are
aware of some of them, but are exceedingly
chary about giving information, doubtless fear
ing the reflex action of the boomerang A few,
nameless here forevermore, have been encour
aged to make the brief remarks here appended
Said lawyer No. IA man comes before a
justice of the peace and is fined, say $40 and
costs. Now, the justice and his iackals are
only interested in their own fees. With very
small amount of persuasion the justice is in
duced to make the fine 81, in order to have it
paid. That means loss to the school fund of
SO. have seen man fined for selling liquor on
Sunday, for which offence the justice cannot.
under the law, assess a fine of less than $40.
This charge in order to save the offender and
afford him opportunity to meet the costs, l have
seen changed to dissertation of the Sabbath. the
fine changed to 81, thus robbing the school fund
of SO. Here is another way the thing is done:
Say man is fined 81 and costs. The costs run
up the amount assessed against the offender to
$14 or $l5. He will pay in SO, and giving some
sort of worthless security, stays tie fine. The
$40 paid IN will be all that he will pay, the fine
and witness fees remaining uncollected, |
know of dozen cases where men have gone into
these 'sQuires' Offices and asked their witnessfees
to be told that they have not been collected.
The justice, the constable and the prosecutor
have jot their fees, and the States witnesses get
nothing"
Said second lawyer: II have personal
knowledge of very recent case A man was
fined $40 for selling liquor on Sunday. With
the costs, the fees of the justice, prosecutor and
constable. the amount reached $40. To accom-
nodate this saloon keeper at the expense of the
school fund.- the charge was changed to desecra-
ton of the Sabbath, with a fine of ST.. The
court harpies, you see. lost nothing, but the
school fund lost So"
Said third lawyer: "a constable of one of
the courts in Dogberry Row, told me the other
day that an investigation had been made at the
suggestion of the attaches of the 'squres Offices,
with the discovery that the law against taking
excessive fees is not in force and offenders in
such cases can not be prosecuted"
fourth lawyer: Tho justices pay little
attention to the collection OF fines Tie main
thing they are interested in is the collection of
their costs. Whey they have secured their fees
their interest ceases. Nobody can tell, in fact
just how many fines are collected. 1t is all in
their own hands, and am not going to believe in
the scrupulous honesty of men who defraud the
school fund. The Attorney general should APP
point somebody to look over their books instead
of. as now, merely taking their word for the
amount of fines collected. Indiana is losing
thousands Of dollars. as this state of things is
going on in nearly every county. Fines
remitted thrown off, the character of offenses
changed on the docket-all at the expense Of the
school fund, but the 'squires look out for their
own fees and those Of their helpers"
Said another gentleman: IF person is COM
mitted to jail in default Of fine and costs-say
s. fine and $40 costs to be paid in imprison
ment at ST day-after the ulprit has remained
in Jail five days they let him out upon payment
of $40. He has paid his fine by imprisonment
but the cash is divided among the justice. the
prosecutor and the constable. The school fund
loses every time. Beside this, 1 don't believe
the 'squires who 90 the criminal business report
more than quarter of the fines they receive"
The reporter visited the county auditors
Office and examined the amounts paid, in fines
into the county treasury by the
justices who get tho criminal cases.
These returns are made ha!f-yearly. He
finds that justice who does u iourlshing
business paid for the year 1880, fines collected
sos. "a; for 1884, $34 81; for 1882 (the Attorney
general stirring them all up about that time).
$43 l6; for 1883, $32. Ia; for 1884, $4,000 His
last payment, in July 1885. was 1927 These
amounts, measured with the business this thrifty
justice has been doing. seem absurdly small.
Another justice, on the principle that new
broom sweeps Clean and perhaps for the reason
that it took him some time to learn the tricks of
Dogberry Row, paid at the close of his first six
mouths $l4129; at the close of his second six
months, $l4I24; the next six, $50 49, the next
$42 O.; for the half year ending last July, 500 AZ
1t is agreeable to turn from these figures to
those shown in the amounts, fines, turned by
the mayor into the county treasury from State
cases. During Mayor Grubb's incumbency,
nearly two years and eight months. he paid into
the county treasury in fines, $3O72 SO. Mayor
McMaster is deserving credit for the manner in
which he assesses fines against law breakers,
and the manner in which he collects them.
During the eighteen months he has held the
Office Of mayor he has paid into the county
treasury So, 44O Il He has evidently looked out
for the interest of the school fund. Perhaps if
there were fewer justices of the peace, with less
competition for business. and with the justices
upon salaries instead of being dependent upon
fees. they would deal more fairly by the school
fuD