The Newtown bee., 1901-03-22
LITCHFIELD COUNTY.
NEW MILFORD.

THE MOVEMENT FOR A TOWN COURT.
 The movement for Town court seems likely to result in success, as it is understood the judiciary committee of the Legislature has decided to re- port the bill favorably creating this court. In republican circles, it is.un- derstood, Justice George Jackson will receive the nomination, and it is gen. erally conceded he is we'll qualified for the place, being well posted on legal matters, owing to his experience as trying justice, and having the confidence of lawabiding citizens. In the Danbury News of recent date there appeared the following illumina- ting dispatch covering the hearing on | this bill, which caused much comment in town.
 The News says: The petition of citizens of New Milford for the estab- lishment of Town court, which was given hearing by members of the judiciary committee, last week, gave an interesting glimpse of the procedure before the justice courts in that town, says dispatch from Hartford. George H. Jackson, a justice of the peace for New Milford, and Selectman Barnes, stated that under the justice system the town expended last year about $1, 300, mostly in the trial of persons charged with being tramps or vagrants. According to the story of these two officials, the cOnsta bleS of New Milford, all the vagrants in the town, clapped them in the lookup and applied to the grand jurors for a complaint. AS each complaint represented cash value of sl. .06 to the grand juror, he was perfect ly willing to inform and complain according to the statute in such case made and provided. An additional in- centive lay in the fact that if he re- fused to honor complaint his chances of ever getting another chance to ex- erciSe his powers were extremely linn ited. The complaint made out, the constable, grand juror and prisoner ap- peared before the justice, who found the prisoner guilty and sent the man of $1O out of it, the justice $2.35, while the constable's friends who were sub poenaed to tell what they had heard about the case were rewarded with 60 cents each. MT Jackson explained that the law did not allow the justice to re- init any part of the fine or costs, and an unwritten law would not allow him to acquit the man if he cared to serve second term. As each separate pris- Oner brought before a justice court was treated as a separate case, a com plete set of costs was taxed on each one, though dozen might be brought before a justice in one day. Ten men were arrested for intoxication in New Milford on one day recently and the aggregate costs amounted to about S115. Touching on the character of certain grand jurors, Justice Jackson said that not long ago one of those officials in his town actually signed complaint charging himself with theft and drunk enness without having the least idea what he was doing until he was arrest ed an hour or so later, while a second prosecuting officer was arrested on the complaint of colleague charging him with leasing a house for immoral pur- poses.
 It is said that after this article ap- peared in The News mock trial was held in one of the saloons in town and it was voted that Justice Jackson should be hung at midnight, but not being able to find him they qualified their sentence by voting to knife him to the heart should he ever again run for office.