There's a reason an increasing number of people avoid jury duty- mostly having little if any faith in the American "justice" system.
Why? This is just one story why: Curtis Mertensmeyer.
On Mother's Day 2008- then 20-year-old Mertensmeyer was drunk and speeding when he struck a pedestrian- Daniel Riemann at 55th Street and Ward Parkway.
Mertensmeyer left Riemann in pieces and very dead as he roared off to his affluent Johnson County-KS home.
The people in the vehicle with Mertensmeyer ended up turning their driver in.
No problem. Thanks to Jackson County Circuit Judge John Torrence- Mertensmeyer gets off his first-degree manslaughter charge with an unbelievable "120 days" in jail.
Four months for killing someone.
Drunk (geez- this guy avoided these idiotic sobriety checkpoints)- speeding and leaving the victim to die no less.
Not only that- but according to The KANSAS CITY STAR story- Lousy Judge Torrence kicked Rieman's parents out of the courtroom.
The WRONG people were kicked from that courtroom!
I'd call American justice a joke- but there's nothing funny at all about this or any number of screwed-up sentances some of these judges hand out.
People wanted to recall Mayor Funkhouser over bullshit.
If these recall people REALLY want to do the citizens some good- recall Jackson County Circuit Judge John Torrence.
And don't darken my mailbox with a jury summons again- justice- my ASS!!!
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3 comments:
Judges in Missouri are appointed by the Governor. The Governor picks one person from a panel of three nominees; the nominees are selected by a group of six citizens in the district where a vacancy occurs.
The job is a lifetime appointment.
The only way a judge can be removed is if he is voted off; actually the vote is whether to retain the judge. Judges face a retention vote once every four years in a November election either in a Presidential election or in a non-Presidential November election.
The way to accomplish this would be to mount a campaign in the months leading up to the retention vote.
Since John Torrence was appointed in 2001, he most likely passed a retention vote in 2008. Thus he most likely would not be up for retention until 2012, but it may be in 2010.
If you wish to wage such a campaign, now is the time to start.
Create a web site to gather email addresses of people who are riled up about this decision. This should be done while there is still considerable public awareness of this judge's decision.
When the election grows nearer, contact those who have left contact information and start your campaign.
Send press releases to all media outlets, picket the courthouse, place posters. Do something to attract publicity.
In this case, the judge knew he was going to take considerable heat for this decision. His background as a lawyer includes many years as an attorney for the Public Defender so his inclination is not particularly surprising.
Perhaps a more appropriate target for protest would be the defendant's mother, who is a lawyer and apparently inserted herself into the judicial process at an early stage.
How would you protest the mother?
Hard to say. As an attorney, she may be susceptible to unfavorable publicity if she has done something wrong.
The father may also be an attorney; the photo of him in the paper would not rule that out.
As far as the judge is concerned, he is a public figure who made a tough call.
He may not be the appropriate target but who is to say?
This judge is up again in 2012. http://www.mobar.org/data/judges08/torrence.htm
The people need to start targeting "revolving door" judges. Typical sentence is 7-10 years. If this guy had hit a State Trooper he would have gotten that sentence. See: http://www.mshp.dps.mo.gov/MSHPWeb/UltimateSacrifice/OfficerPages/corporalMichaelEWebster.html
I just saw that he gave probation to a child molester. a guy who began molesting the child at 6 and continued through 14. How is this justice?
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