Two fascinating, but extremely scary, articles by William Glaberson appeared in the New York Times recently. In them Glaberson exposes the arbitrary nature of justice in the tiny courts of New York State. It turns out that no legal qualifications are required of justices in these courts - just successful completion (assessed by means of a true or false test) of the six days of training they are provided with by the state!
The stories that emerge from the proceedings are quite chilling:
"Outside Rochester, in Le Roy, a justice who is still in office concocted false statements, state officials said, to help immigration officials deport a Hispanic migrant worker in 2003. Although the man had pleaded not guilty to trespassing, the town justice, Charles E. Dusen, issued a court order saying he had been convicted. In an interview, Justice Dusen said he tried to right his wrong after the worker’s lawyer complained. But the man was still deported."
Great (disturbing) stuff.
The articles:
In Tiny Courts of N.Y., Abuses of Law and Power
Delivering Small-Town Justice With a Mix of Trial and Error
(via Freakonomics blog)
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