Cy's Two

Anyone who likes the principle of "States Right" should see Dateline's recent expose on corruption in the legal system in Louisiana. That kind of set up makes crossing a state line just like going in to Mexico or a Middle Eastern country. You give your civil rights at the border.

Before anyone thinks I'm picking on Louisiana, the cops in DeQueen, Arkansas, terrorized some members of my family a few years ago over two cans of beer that hadn't had the Arkansas tax paid on them.

Here in Texas, a highway patrol can file on you in any JP court in a county where the alleged offense was committed. Naturally, the patrolman files in the courts where the judge is a buddy of his.

In the old days, if the judge found you guilty, he fined you a "dollar plus court cost" or $16.50 (a heck of a lot of money - 30 years ago). The State of Texas got the Dollar and the judge kept $15.50. If he found you innocent, he didn't get anything. Essentially, you paid him to find you guilty.

Eventually, the Legislature in its great wisdom tried to right this great wrong. Now, the county gets the cost, and pays the judge a salary. This sounds fair until you realize that the patrolmen still get to select the JP Court they file your case in, and the counties now keep the court cost, and pay the JPs a salary based on how much revenue they generate. It turns out that both the patrolman and the judge are on a quota system.

You still pay them to find you guilty.

Is it any wonder why the public has lost some respect for our law enforcement and the judicial systems?