in new york state, you don't have to be a lawyer to become a judge.

in the middle ages, human beings in the west believed that animals were rational and understood the concepts of right and wrong. there were numerous court cases where livestock, flies, and even slugs were sent to court, judged, used as witnesses, and executed.

almost half of the states in the u.s. don't require town and village judges to have a law degree.

the town of new rome, ohio had just 40 residents, 16 of whom were police officers. nonetheless, they managed to generate us$400,000 worth of traffic tickets per year.

64% of u.s. adults have a relative who spent time in jail or prison.

queen eleanor of england presided over a court of wealthy ladies who answered questions regarding love as if they were a judicial body. one of their findings: that love between a man and his wife was not possible.

(clearly, this applied primarily to them.)

out of every 1,000 rapes in the u.s., only 310 are reported to police. why?

some ideas:

• because justice department statistics show that only 57 of those 310 reports will lead to an arrest.
• of those 57, only 11 will get referred to prosecutors.
• of those 11, only 7 will lead to a felony conviction.
• of those 7 convicted rapists, only 6 will serve time.

that's right - only 6 out of every 1,000 rapists serve time.

in medieval times, married german couples who had a dispute with each other could settle their differences with a judicial fighting match. the husband had to stand in a hole with one hand tied behind his back, and the wife was armed with a sack full of rocks.

even after being instructed by a judge, only 50% of u.s. jurors know that defendants are innocent until proven guilty, and 86% don't know what constitutes proof of guilt.

average time served by prisoners who were proved innocent via dna testing: 14 years

u.s. judge roy pearson sued a dry cleaners for us$67 million for losing his pants. during the trial, the judge went on for hours about his emotional distress and even cried.

despite the fact that u.s. district judge alcee hastings was found guilty of accepting a bribe by the senate, he was elected to the florida house of representatives in 1992 - just 3 years later.

kenneth lay, ceo of enron and a good friend of president bush, was convicted of fraud, conspiracy, and lying to banks. when enron declared bankruptcy, thousands of enron employees and investors lost everything, including their retirement funds. when lay died while on vacation/awaiting sentencing, the judge nullified the verdict so that lay's estate didn't have to pay anyone a dime for the losses he caused.

pablo escobar, the drug cartel leader, built his own prison, chose his guards, and set the length of his own prison sentence. among other comforts, the prison has waterbeds, a pool, and a soccer field.

(anyone who tells you that justice is equal under the law - even for those with money - is a fool.)

you know how in all the tv police shows the arresting officer says that if the suspected perpetrator "can't afford an attorney, one will be provided" for them? well, the part that you may not be familiar with is that state laws have changed so that the defendant still has to pay for that attorney (and court costs, health care while in jail, meals, time in jail, jail uniforms, and more), even if they can't afford any it, and whether or not they are ever proven guilty.

in fact, in 40 states, charging and holding citizens has become a revenue-generating activity.

vince neil, lead singer of the band motley crue, killed his passenger and severely injured two other people while drunk driving. he got 20 days in jail (it was supposed to be 30, but the band had a tour), probation, and a fine.

in the u.s., any citizen can make a citizen's arrest if they reasonable suspect someone committed a felony. they don't even have to have seen the alleged crime happen - it just has to have happened and they have to have known about it.

the chain of hobby-related stores known as hobby lobby won a case before the supreme court that said that they didn't have to pay for reproductive healthcare that the company owners objected to on what they said were religious grounds.

at the time that the case was filed, hobby lobby's 401k program invested us$73 million in pharmaceutical companies that manufacture birth control pills, iud's, and the morning after pill.

in 2003, a florida court of appeals ruled that there is no rule against distorting or falsifying the news in the u.s. the plaintiff? fox news.

take two non-violent first offenders, put one in jail and give one community service. the one doing community service is 20% less likely to ever be arrested again. the odds that the fellow sent to jail will wind up back there again increase to 50/50 just because he went to jail to start with, and began to model his future behavior based on who he spent his prison time with.