The first thing that a certain undersheriff here in Marshall County, Kansas, and I disagreed upon was actually a lot more universal than it was personal. It concerned the presence of weapons in Northeast Kansas schools, and the fact that rifles and shotguns occasionally tag along to school in vehicles driven by students who hunt on mornings before school starts. The cop thinks that because he goes to church and votes republican most of the time, a gun in the hands of a younger student (mind you, many of the schools in Northeast Kansas go from kindergarten to high school because the schools are not consolidated and there are not many students) would not create the mayhem here that the same weapon would create in the hands of a younger student opening an older student's vehicle and finding a loaded gun in a "blue" state. I reminded him that religion and politics would not affect the outcome of such an incident, and that if anything like that ever happened, I would be on the phone with all the major newspapers immediately, informing them of the conversation he and I had just had. This was before
this happened, involving my effort to help a Marshall County mom get her mother to care for her children after she had been arrested, and also before
this incident, when the county attorney wanted all of the witnesses for a case she wanted to try in court to testify her way, instead of telling the truth. Would you have heard a message from the pulpit, if you hadn't skipped church, about Jesus voting republican and telling concerned parents to relax about children taking guns to school?
3 comments:
i would just like to note, that that leniency doesn't apply to evrryone. i think we both know if certian students were found keeping a gun in their truck it would be a shitstorm. the same as some students are perfectly allowed to take off days from school to go hunting, having both the parents and the school adminstration knowing full well the students aren't sick on the first day of the season. but. other students and their parents get threatened with truancy everytime the student misses a day. certian last names seem to have a protective shield around them. i know at least one child that would have been expelled in a second if they forgot to return a gun home before school. while others, can leave them in plain view with no reprecusions. Got to love Marshall County. on a seperate note but not completely unrelated note, mcpd has been reported serveral times for violation of constitutional rights, unlawful practices, and other such matters, and no investigation seems to have ever materialized. Conversationally, a member of the fort riley pd owns land not that far from our county seat, and while it now has a very clear no trespassing sign on it, it used to not, and going into that land would get you a gun in the face from an ununiformed fort riley officer, and the assault of marysville finest, and half a dozen trumped charges, a good chunk of them felonies. you really should take a look onto what really goes on around here that people dont mention. you would be surprised how many warrants never materializes when requested to be seen, or how often illegal search and seizures get ignored by the judges. When the judge, County Attornery, and a certian probation officer are all best friends, how unbaised of a judge to you really think your going in front from? plea bargians are already decided, and cases are already settled long before you ever go in front of a judge.
Thankyou for commenting. I am not surprised about the selectively applied leniency----but how selective would an actual mishap with a gun be? Laura McNish and Angela Hecke may decide "selectively" to whom the law applies and to whom it does not, but the laws of physics do not play favorites. I hope a tragedy is not required in order to make them see how foolish they are.
I have not been here very long, and I do not know that much about the history of the politics in this area. I can only say that if the crap is as deep as you say it is, and it very well may be, the best thing everyone can do is be vocal about it. Write to the bar association about the county attorney and the judge. If you know they are violating the Kansas Judicial Code of Conduct, call them out on it by writing complaints. It will only be a start, but if no one does anything, nothing will ever change. I had a warrant never materialize when requested, and as a result, things will probably not turn out the way our favorite prosecutor had hoped.....but I dug my heels in and challenged everyone.(BTW, our favorite prosecutor didn't get to prosecute yours truly, and also really HATES this blog!) I also called out the judge you mentioned about a conduct violation, and she initially denied it. Someone in the courtroom, who happens to be an attorney, was privy to what she did and reminded her. She backed down.........I'll admit that I was scared, but it was the right thing to do. If citizens in Marshall County really want the corruption to go away, everyone will have to do more than just talk about it. From writing to the bar association to filing lawsuits on contingency to picketing, the judicial community is not going to feel any need to change unless the rest of us give them a reason to change! That's something I cannot do by myself. By myself, I can only make sure that I am an unappealing target for all of their crap, but with everyone's support, I might be able to make enough people outside in and outside of Marshall County aware of what's going on to make a modest difference.
And of course, there is always the next election. That, too, requires conversation and fact finding, and making sure that voters know what is going on.
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