Show GREATER RESPECT FOR LAW legion probation plan save many do de troit ex service borvice men from stigma of prison son terms term judge thomas 11 M cotter of the IRE corders court of detroit midi mich acting on suggestion of the american legion has successfully put into operation a probation plan which has instilled in the minds of many former service men a high regard for the authority ot of the law the system was suggested in 1919 following discharge from military service of many thousands of men of whom some were forced to appear in police court on minor charges of misdemeanors under the plan inaugurated many of these men were spared the stigma of a prison sentence due to a farsighted far sighted policy instigated by judge cotter only the word of the man himself with a promise to be a better citizen and the me word from some gome american legion official Is necessary to save the man from sentence the plan works remarkably well according to the T to eia V VU AA g V e judge thomas M cotter ports of the court out ot of former service men who appeared before judge cotter only six or seven reappeared in hla his court to answer charges for violation of the statutes the plan has been adopted in every pollee police court in the city of detroit at the time of the instigation of the probation system detroit was filled with bolshevistic propaganda and the success of the legion system indicates the turning point of many former soldiers from disregard of law and order to a high respect for the laws authority tho rity |