investigate the accuracy of the form. One transcript of the complete exchange between a judge and police officer after the judge received a form from the clerk went as follows: The Court: Officer, where did you arrest this man? The Officer: In front of 244 West 49th Street yesterday afternoon at about two o’clock. The Case dismissed and defendant discharged. Of the 4,238 bookmaking cases brought in 1929, only 161 were held by the magistrates for trial. The other 4,077 were discharged by the magistrates (Seabury 1974, 65–69). Gambling was also overlooked in Kansas City in the 1930s. The county attorney sought to shut down all of the slot machines in the city, bringing charges against numerous operators. The justice of the peace, though, was a Pendergast henchman” and “veteran dismissed all of the cases for lack of evidence despite having just heard damning testimony (Reddig 1947, 216). This influence in the courts was occasionally used to protect more central members of the regime from criminal charges, especially when it reflect poorly on the regime as a whole. After the killing of two Black Panthers by fourteen Chicago police officers, a special state grand jury investigated Mayor Daley’s handpicked state’s attorney Edward Hanrahan for his role in ordering the raid that resulted in the deaths. At the conclusion of the investigation, the grand jury returned an indictment against Hanrahan and thirteen of the police officers. Judge Joseph Power, a neighbor and former law partner of the mayor, in an almost unheard of action, refused to sign the formal presentment. He accused the head of the grand jury investigation, Barnabas Sears, of inadequately carrying out his responsibilities and ordered the grand jury to hear testimony directly from Hanrahan. After hearing twenty hours of testimony from Hanrahan, the grand jury again attempted to present an indictment. Judge Power appointed a special
investigate the accuracy of the form. One transcript of the complete exchange between a judge and police officer after the judge received a form from the clerk went as follows: The Court: Officer, where did you arrest this man? The Officer: In front of 244 West 49th Street yesterday afternoon at about two o’clock. The Case dismissed and defendant discharged. Of the 4,238 bookmaking cases brought in 1929, only 161 were held by the magistrates for trial. The other 4,077 were discharged by the magistrates (Seabury 1974, 65–69). Gambling was also overlooked in Kansas City in the 1930s. The county attorney sought to shut down all of the slot machines in the city, bringing charges against numerous operators. The justice of the peace, though, was a “veteran Pendergast henchman” and dismissed all of the cases for lack of evidence despite having just heard damning testimony (Reddig 1947, 216). This influence in the courts was occasionally used to protect more central members of the regime from criminal charges, especially when it reflect poorly on the regime as a whole. After the killing of two Black Panthers by fourteen Chicago police officers, a special state grand jury investigated Mayor Daley’s handpicked state’s attorney Edward Hanrahan for his role in ordering the raid that resulted in the deaths. At the conclusion of the investigation, the grand jury returned an indictment against Hanrahan and thirteen of the police officers. Judge Joseph Power, a neighbor and former law partner of the mayor, in an almost unheard of action, refused to sign the formal presentment. He accused the head of the grand jury investigation, Barnabas Sears, of inadequately carrying out his responsibilities and ordered the grand jury to hear testimony directly from Hanrahan. After hearing twenty hours of testimony from Hanrahan, the grand jury again attempted to present an indictment. Judge Power appointed a special
Trial%20Courts,%20Local%20Regimes,%20and%20the%20Maintenance%20of%20Power-%20Western.docx