Before the Judicial Council was voted in by the people of the State in California, the local judge was a Justice of the Peace and was known to the people as a J.P. He would be a local man elected to office by the voters of the district and he was supposed to handle all minor legal matters. Besides, he was often called on to settle many matters among people that were too small to take to a lawyer but of very real importance to those concerned. He had the constable as his aide and an outside man served papers and maybe arrest someone once in a while.
The salary back in the 50s was pretty small, the Judge got as much as $30 a month and the Constable much less, but he was paid extra for serving papers. There were very few automobiles, no traffic problems and livestock ran in the road at will.
One of the early and well-known judges owned a sow that ran around town and did once and while get in somebody's yard. The town dogs chewed her up at times but were unable to daunt her spirit or stop her marauding. She would raise a litter of pigs every year and in the fall she knew just when the acorns began falling and would lead her family to the woods, not to return until springtime.
In later years animals including chickens disappeared from the highways and were no longer a problem.
When I became Judge the mills were getting well started and many families moved in to the valley. Some of these people were often a problem. One man used to beat his wife about every payday and the neighbors were complaining to me but there was little I could do about it.
One day this man got drunker than usual and really raised a fuss. He beat his wife up good and was dragging her around by the hair. The children, all quite small, ran screaming to the neighbors and then they got upset. The wife came in to sign a complaint and she had a fine black eye and numerous bruises. He had kicked her a few times while he had her down. She looked pretty tough. The husband was brought in to court and was given some probation with a few days in jail. Then the wife had a fit. She said, “But I didn't want him put in jail.” I have often thought since that she and others in like cases enjoyed those family quarrels and the attendant excitement and tension. It gave them an outlet for their emotions.
We had a good many of those episodes and sometimes the wife would be at fault. A few times the wife got into jail. It took some days in jail and many lectures to convince those people they couldn't disturb the neighbors and scare their children. There they quieted down and held no grudge afterward. It seemed like they realized there might be a time when they would need a friend in court.
One day a lady called in and said, “There is a man laying in my front yard and he may be dead.” The officer was off duty that day but I knew where to find him. We went down and the man was there and alive and breathing although not too noticeably. The officer tapped him lightly on the head but no results. The third time and a little harder he opened one eye and said, “Quit that.”
He smelled pretty bad but it was over the hill to the jailhouse with him. We transferred him to the Sergeant's car up on top of the hill and started hurriedly away. I don't think the sergeant ever forgave us. It was a warm day. Later we found this man had a record and it wasn't too good.
We had many cases involving too much drinking and in many of them children were the losers, although the county lost also as there was no money to pay the fine so they had to go to jail. Sometimes probation worked but only seldom. Many of those sent to jail for a short time didn't seem to mind; it meant a rest and a few good meals and they didn't have to go anyplace else.
I often thought it bothered me more than it did them. I surely hated to shut a man up for a few days. Sometimes though everybody was satisfied. One time in the Ukiah court the judge often brought a man in evidently not of American ancestry. The boys were a little put out with him as he persisted in getting drunk and sleeping under the warehouses and they were afraid he would either get run over or set afire. That was Friday and I asked him if he was a national and he said, “Judge, I'm a Navajo Indian.” His home was in Arizona so I told him I thought he should go back home and suspended his sentence with probation.
Monday morning the boys came to court and told me, “Well, we have your Navajo friend.” I asked him why he hadn't started for Arizona and he said, “I met another friend, judge.”
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