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 The Justice Court System in America where such men are holding ofﬁce as justices of the peace! Can we require them to have knowledge of the law of partnership, agency, torts, cor

porations,

negligence,

contract

and

statutory interpretation when they have never studied law? Of course not. You

may as well expect a trial lawyer to be an expert on the industry of farming. The attorney is not "in training” to give orders to farm employes, and the farmer

is in the same boat when it comes to handing down legal decisions. There is a story which has traveled through the legal profession about a fine old family of farmers living down in the state of Texas. The old gentle man was very popular with the people

near by and one day they elected him justice of the peace. A friend suggested that he go up to El Paso and see how the courts were organized.

He went

to the city and heard one of the judges tell some lawyers during a trial, that the

court would take the case under advise ment and render a decision the follow ing week. The old gentleman did not know what the word advisement meant, but he liked it just the same. There was a big crowd present when he opened

court for the ﬁrst time in his township. The court room crowd remarked the farmer justice, calm, digniﬁed and judi cious. When a distinguished lawyer from El Paso had ﬁnished his argument

and his opponent stood up to reply in the case pending, the justice rapped for

395

at least one justice's court in each of the

townships of the state, for which one justice of the peace must be elected by the qualiﬁed electors of the township, at the general state election next pre

ceding the expiration of the term of oﬁice of his predecessor. In any county where in the opinion of the board of supervisors the public convenience re quires it, the said board may, by order, provide that two justices courts may be established in any township, designating the same in such order; and in such case,

one justice of the peace must be elected in the manner provided by law. In every city or town of the third and the fourth class there must be one justice of the peace, and in every city or town of the ﬁrst and one-half class there must be four justices of the peace, and in every city or town of the second class there must be two justices of the peace, to be elected in like manner by the electors of such cities or towns respec

tively; and such justices of the peace of cities or towns shall have the same jurisdiction, civil and criminal, as jus

tices of the peace of townshipsand town ship justices’ courts.

Said justices of

the peace of cities, and justices’ courts of cities shall also have jurisdiction of all

proceedings for the violation of any ordi nance of any city in which courts are established, both civil and criminal, and

of all actions for the collection of any license required by any ordinance of any such city or town and generally exercise

order in the court. “Gentlemen," he said courteously, “the court will take

all powers, duties and jurisdiction, civil

this case under advisement and will render a decision next Tuesday in favor of the plaintiff." The California legislature has passed two excellent provisions in reference to the justice court system. Section 103 of the Civil Code of Procedure, as

the police court, recorder's court or

amended, provides that, "there shall be

and criminal, of police judges, judges of mayor's court, within such city.

No

person is eligible to the oﬁice of justice of the peace in any city or town of the ﬁrst, ﬁrst and one-half, second or third class, who has not been admitted to practise law in a court of record; and no justice of the peace is permitted to