The Ravalli Republican. [volume] (Stevensville, Mont.) 1894-1899, 1896-10-07
THE JuDGESIIIp.

Thc Missoulian is publishing Il
number Of letters from the people
about Judge Woody:s candidacy for
reelection to the judgeship OF tins
judicial district. We print extracts
from some Of them below, and they
appear to make out a pretty strong
tcasc:against the Judge. About the
strongest "0f these LETTERS, SO far
published, sand one which is or par
ticular intcrestto the taxpayers, is
the first one following: . .
Editor Of the Missoulian: 4 sec
you are publishing letters from the
people: will you publish this? / am
u democrat and ! intend to vote for
every man on the democratic ticket
except Judge Woody and l will give
you my reasons for not voting for
him.
First-I cannot vote for Il man
whom know to be SO deeply prcju-
diced and narrow minded as J. know
Judge Woody to be; he is not a
safe man to have on the bench.
Our constitution provides that
every man who stands accused
fshall'havc IA. fair ..and an impartial
trial; this q man cannot get i,bcforc
Judge Moody; he always leans tow
ard the prosecution in a criminal
case and his rulings are or have been
as nearly as he could make them, in
favor Of the prosecutions. For in
stance, the Glcim case. Because Of
Judge Woody's unfair ruling he was
reversed by the supreme court and
Mrs. Glenn liberated from state
prison. II she is guilty She should
be in prison now; if she is not she
should never have been sent there,
and Missoula county should never
have been put to the enormous cx-
pcnse OF the Glcim trials. In the
case Of the state against Virgic Lee.
Judge Woody allowed witnesses to
testify to what they heard other
people say, and Nirgic Lee was convic-
ted. The case was appealed and Judge
| Woody was promptly overrucd by the
supreme court and N;rgic Lee was
brought ba}i, from Deer Lodge and
the expenses Of another expensive
trial had to be borne by the taxpayers
Of Missoula county. In the Whalcy
cases (thrcc) at Stcvcnsvillc, the
three defendants were all convicted
and sent to the pcnitcntiary; the
cases were appealed, and for the first
time in the history of the state the
supreme court ccnsurcd the district
court for it's action in the trial Of a
case and the Whaley boys ware par
doncd by thc governor, upon the re-
commcndation Of the supreme court.
And another immense cost bill was
added to the taxpayers of Ravalli
county because Of the blundcrs Of the
| judge. / am not defending the
Whaleys; if they arc guilty they
should be in the state prison, if they
arc not they never should have been
| sent there. In every criminal case
that has been appealed from Judge
! Woody's court he has been reversed
by the supreme court. And each
time the taxpayers had to pay for it..
How many poor fellows arc there in
Deer Lodge now, who would not
be there il they had the money to
appeal their cases to the supreme
court? II a man commits Il crime he
should be punished for it, but he
| should have a fair trial, before he is
sent to prison.
| 1t is ciained by Judge Woody and
his friends that he saves the tax
| my + II il,
prove by the report Of the commits
soncr Of labor ard. industry or Nom
tana, pages 23 and al. Ihis report
shows that Judge Brant]y tried 30
criminal cases in Deer Lodge county
at a cost of $7,7Ss.40, while Judge
Woody tried only - cases in Missou-
la county at a cost Of $6. 6.175.G0. In
Ravalli county Judge Woody tried +
cases at Il cost Of $+,903.5O, while
Judge Brantly in Granite county
tried - cases ut a cost 'of So, 226. 40.
In all, Judge Brantly has tried -
cases and had u convictions, at a
cost Of 81 ,0l4.8O to Deer Lodge and
Granite counties, while Judge Woody
has tried only IL cases, and had II
convictions for fcloncs at the cnor-
nous cost to the taxpayers Of Missou-
| Ia and Rayalli counties Of SIT, 254 go.
This is the record Of the two courts
for the ycar OF 1895 as reported by
1 the commissioner Of labor and indus
try. Games RI, Mills, or Deer Lodge,
is the comm isSiOncr and these figures
were taken from Ills report. If this
is saving to the taxpayers Of Mis-
soula and Iaavulli counties then the
report Of Captain Mills is false and
that is not probable. These are !;
a few of my reasons for opposing
Judge Woody, although
1 AM y DEMOCRAT.
Editor Of the Misoulian: Answer
ing the question asked you in yo,ll
paper last night wish to say that
Judge Woody is an advocate Of the
whipping post. was present when
he read his paper before the Bar as
sociatlon. 1t was brutal in the cX.
trcmc and showed thc inhuman
nature Of the man. Fog an cnlight-
cncd person Of the present day tc
advocate such cruel punishment only
shows the tyrannical nature OF The
man. Think Of judge Of a court
in this community having such ideas
It, is disgrace to our modern civil.
zat:an. it is to be hoped that an
advocate Of the whipping post wifi