The Kennewick courier-reporter. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1939-1949, 1949-10-14
WEEKEND
VIEWPOINTS
BY ] w. HANSON
Editor. The Courier.Reporter

The dispute between Postmas.
ter Walt Woehler and City Judge
Winkenwerder over the trial of
youngsters in the judges court
is only one of the instances in
which petty courts often get
out Of bounds and practice me.
thods in dealing with juveniles
and grownupS alike which are
contrary to the basic laws of the
land.
We do not mean to drow q
conclusion on the dispute be.
tween the P. M. and the~judge.
ot least while the natter is
being odiudicated; but let us
point out some of the proc.
tees we have run into during
q newspaper career which has
Kept us in pretty close touch
with courts in general.
One of the most common vi.
olations of law by the petty
courts themselves is that of find
Ing defendants guilty merely on
the say so OF some police Of
f1cer. In the majority of cases,
arrests for violations of the traf-
Tic laws. and for other common
offenseS are justified. In the ma.
Jor1ty of cases. officers are sim
cere and intelligent enough to
point the way to justice. 1t is
the officer or set of officers lust
here. and there which disregard
the law and generally these do
so both by reason of ignorance
OF the fundamental rights of
American citizens and a purpose.
ful disregard of those rights.
In the south we have seen Ne.
groeS stripped of all their mon.
ey by means of unjustified petty
court sentences, members of re-
ligious sects prosecuted as much
as during the days of witch
craft, workers in the opposing
political camp sent to Jail on the
grounds of violation of some law
but actually as a way of punish
ing him for belonging to the
wrong" political. group. Let us
In fairness to the great many
fine judges in the south and the
splendid police officers you will
find in every state, say that
these cases are the unusual ones
and not the general rule by any
means.
To say that injustices are COM
mitted in only a small percent
age of the petty courts, does not
excuse these. Freedom of the in
dividual is so precious a thing
as we have learned so often in
America, that every case of in,
justice should shock the entire
community in which it is COM
mitted. When David Lillienthal
was at Richland last spring, he
told members of the press that
Eve are. interested not only in
all the people here but also in
one man." That is the American
conception of justice. 1t is built
TO protect every Individual as
y'sh IS the wssele body Of citi \
yeffs. $3.50 80.
- s. q
So, let us here in Kennewick
keen at watchful eye always on
these things. Let us not allow
any system of injustice grow
UP in our local courts. either be- 4
cause Of lack of understanding
of the laws or if someone should
sometime wish to impose some
such condition on us.
.E
A national magazine recently
contained an article pointing
out how motorists suffer the in
justice of speed traps" which
operate in some places. These
are police organizations work.
ing in connection with other
corrupt city and county officials
to shake down" motorists for
as much as they can to provide
money either for municipal and
county expenditures or for poll.
tics or for both. To impose fine
to provide revenue of course is
a corrupt act in itself and con-
trary to all the principles of
honesty and good government.