It’s TBT, and time for a trip into the Review’s archives for a peek at the Thursday, Dec. 18, 1958 edition.
Letter to the editor
[In response to the previous week’s editorial on the replacement of Wilbur Nystrom as town judge with Winslow attorney Robert Alpaugh.]
Editor, the Review:
The writer is most grateful for the kind appraisal made of him in your editorial of last week. The nice remarks could well be applied to the publishers of The Review and those associated with him; for certainly the complexities of maintaining year after year a weekly newspaper as sprightly and absorbing as The Review evidence unique talent well seasoned by dedication.
Sometimes semantics trouble even the most skillful editor, when in the flow of diverse items and the pressure of deadlines he grasps words with no opportunity to weigh nuances. So in The Review’s use of the word “mercy” was NOT used in discussion with the editor. This was supplied by the editor as HIS idea of what was said. A more nearly correct of phrasing of what was said — however it came out — was to “temper judgment with justice.”
Sometimes the easy AND TEMPTING inclination is to render decision on the basis of precedent and how it is going to look in print later. But in over 90% of traffic cases on Bainbridge Island, the violator has his first citation for unlawful status. The factors producing this improper status are weighed by this court to arrive at an intelligent and effective solution of PREVENTION, relative to THIS violator — not his neighbor nor the community. They already have the law to guide them and making “examples” of violators to “scare the devil” out of the “upright citizens” is not my idea of justice, nor yours.
The concluding sentence in the editorial sentence sounds fine – 99% of the readers can say “amen.” But what does it mean? Does a court install esteem for law through severity which ignores the circumstances unique to each case? The citizen who, by hearsay, ie, a news report, assumes the court is lenient and therefore he can risk being caught in a violation, is just immature, and will ignore or defy law regardless of its consequences.
Truthfully, the thought of mercy has never entered my mind. But the question never ceases to challenge my conscience, “What IS JUSTICE IN THIS CASE?” Sometimes justice requires a touch of rehabilitation. May a violator leave a hearing as ignorant as he entered and know that he only suffered penalty? This does occur, you know. And it is not justice to the community.
I know there will be justice rendered under Mr. Robert Alpaugh. I hope no community expectation of heavy-handed justice will ever tempt him to be less than fair and courageously just; for it is not justice that is blind, but unjust citizens.
Respectfully,
Wilbur Nystrom
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