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Show . THE READER'S COURTROOM Ho Control Over Berth I By Will Bernard, LL.B. : Is the Railroad Liable If Your Berth Isn't Ready When You Want It? A woman traveller decided to go to sleep early, and ordered the porter to make up her berth "at once." He said he would but not until he had brought drinks to another passenger. The woman angrily summoned the conductor. "This is a sleeping car," she exclaimed, ex-claimed, "and sleeping comes first!" But the conductor backed up the porter. In a fury, the woman wom-an stalked into the club car, folded her arms, and sat there all night long! Later she sued the railroad for damages, but the court turned down her claim. The judge said a passenger is entitled to have her berth made up in a reasonable time but not instantaneously! Should a One-Hour Jail Sentence Be Carried Out As Strictly As a Longer Term? A teacher was convicted of bigamy. biga-my. However, because of certain extenuating circumstances, the judge gave him a sentence of exactly exact-ly one hour in jail! After the sentence sen-tence was pronounced, the parties sat around the courtroom for awhile having a friendly "bull session." Finally the deputy walked over to take the defendant away. But the man pointed at his watch and cried: "Hey! My hour is up alreadyl" Loudly his lawyer demanded that the man should be released at once. But the judge was hot convinced, con-vinced, and turned down the request. re-quest. He ruled that the one-hour sentence would start running only after the man was actually locked up behind bars. May Policemen Use Illegal Means For Legal Ends? Two detectives picked up a burglary burg-lary suspect and took him into a special room for "questioning." When the man refused to confess, the officers slapped him, punched him, beat him with a rubber hose. At last, covered with welts and black-and-blue marks, the prisoner "confessed." When the story leaked out, the two detectives were arrested ar-rested on charges of assault. They protested that they had merely been "trying to get at the truth" but the court sent them both to jail to meditate upon their sins. The judge said: "While the law protects police officers in the proper prop-er discharge of their duties, it must at the same time protect the individual from cruel and brutal treatment by the police." Should a Doctor Be Paid For Taking Care of Friends? A schoolboy broke his arm, and was treated by a doctor who was the father of one of his schoolmates. school-mates. Later the doctor sent a bill to the boy's father, but it was never paid. At last the doctor filed suit for his money. At the trial, the defendant protested: "The only reason we used this particular doctor was that my son and his son were friends. I took it for granted that he wouldn't charge for his services." But the court disagreed and ordered the doctor paid in full. The judge said that friendship is no reason for depriving depriv-ing a doctor of just compensation for his labors. |