The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1907-12-21

Did YOU ever spend a few hours in a
tribunal OF justice where the poor. the
unfortunate. the lowly. the spiteful,
and in fact the underworld in general,
tell their troubles. confess their fail
ings and accept their sentences while q
stern faced judge peers at them over
his spectacles? In other words did
you ever pay visit to the city Grim
inal court?
Thousands come and thousands go in
every city in the country. and in every
town or hamlet where the justice of
the peace or the squire holds forth
They come on business. they come to
prosecute. they come to be prosecuted.
and then the majority come because it
is interesting. they are curious and
they have nothing else to do. But
they are there nevertheless and tomor-
their old places. with the same won
dering look and the same interest in
the case.
The Judge.
The city court, or as it is known the
police court. is an institution that is
necessity to any big city. or TO any
city where there IS police force. Its
small brother. the Justice court, is on
the same plan and the squire's office
is a distant relative in the town.
While there seldom arises knotty
point of law in the police court, the
judge who occupies the bench has
problems TO solve that the supreme
court never faced, and although his
knowledge of law may be limited. his
knowledge of human nature must be
great. He must break up families or
reunite them, he must educate the for
| eigner ana he must care for the poor,
the sick, and the unfortunate. Many
are the sides on which he must look
| before he sends the unfortunate to
serve his time or pay his sentence,
thus perhaps blasting the life and
! hopes of some young hopeful, by add
| ing a prison stigma to be carried the
remainder of his life, or breaking the
! heart of some dear mother or fond
father, 50 that their life may be per-
manently ended, or their shoulders
bent, their heads lowered or their hair
whitened.
But it is all in a single day. The
same thing in different coat comes
along tomorrow. Day after day, week
after week, and year after year, the
same judge sits on the same bench and
sees the same unfortunates come and
|
the departed on the same old charges
Is it any wonder that he becomes cal
loused, that the most pathetic story
which brings the cOpiOus tears from
the eyes of the spectator. never Sc
much as gives a tug at the heart OF
the judicial person. 1t is nothing now
to him, it is the same old story of the
downfall, of the tempter and of the
tempted, only it has a new cloak.
No FavOrites.
In the many thousands of police
courts where each morning the grist
is taken up, the same problems face
the judges. Each and every one OF
| them are pronounced at times, hard
heartless men, while at other times
they are spoken of as that soft heart
ed Judge So and SO. They are cursed
beneath the breath, sneered at, otter
threatened. but they deal out justice
with an impartial hand, tempered with
mercy, although perhaps they err il
adding an ounce too much of justice o.
an iota too much of mercy, once in ;
while But who ever heard of
judge in a police court playing favor
ties?
They are many and they are of vari
Gus kinds. There is the judge wht
SAYS that one mans word is as gOoC
as another, whether he wears a blu
coat with brass buttons or a patched
and ragged one. There is the judg
who viii always take an officers wore
before that of the defendant. Their
is the one who places little credence il
the policeman, feeling that the office
is there TO convict under any circum
stances Then we see the model jus
tice who weighs carefully every bi
of evidence in the case and stick
closely to the law book. But afte
considering all the evidence. after lis
tening to the weird stories of tn
pros eCuting witnesses, whether the
be officers or civilians, and the NOR
weird stories of the defendants them
selves, they have their hardest dutie
to perform. They must judge tn
man or woman. not the crime of whic
they are charged. and they must dea
with them accordingly.
Since the establishment of juvenil
courts in this country. a load has bee
c lifted from the shoulders Of the polio
court Judge. Now a specially appoint
! ed Justice looks after the little one!
and spends his time in correcting
starting them out on new paths, touch
them where they cannot blast tn
lives of their little playmates. In tn
, past this was another OF the duties C
the police court judge. and in man
cities he must still so on with tn
work.
The Type of Prisoner.
Let US look at the type which face
the judge of the police court juds
? day by day. Day and night the polic
= are patroHng the city, arresting I'll
e intoxicated, bringing the petty this
: to the station, sending the disorder
before his desk sergeant. and in fa(
gathering in all who break the sta1
? utes of the city in one way or anothe
. Then there is the excited individu;
who races TO the station and then
the police court for a warrant for tn
one and that one who has done him s
|. injury. or defaced or destroyed h
property. or interfered in any wa
with his rights as a citizen Of Il
i. -