When the County seat of Collier was Everglades City, our County Judge was the ornery SS Jolley. There's some dispute over whether he was an actual lawyer, but that made little difference at the time. If you lived in a small county, anyone could run for the job. Or, you could be a Justice of the Peace without being a lawyer. The bottom line was SS Jolley may not've been a lawyer but he was damn sure a judge.
He was an expert at using innovative methods to get the job done. If the court had a full docket for the day, he'd use his Right-Left justice system. It went like this. The Judge would say, "All you folks who want to plead Guilty get up and go stand on the right side of the courtroom. All you that want to plead Not Guiltily, go stand on the left." The cases could include any misdemeanor: petty larceny, DWI, drunk and disorderly, the full gamut.
Now," he'd continue, "all you folks on the right are fined $25.00. Pay the Clerk. Let's hear the first Not Guilty case." And so it went.
He also didn't let the lack of one of his laws being on the books deter his rulings. Once a scalawag from Miami brought his lawyer with him to insure he'd beat the rap in the Cracker Court. At the end of the proceeding, when it was time to rule, Judge Jolley found the rascal guilty. The lawyer was aghast. "Your honor," he said, "there's no law like that on the books that I'm familiar with."
"It's one of the Ochopee Statutes," the judge responded. "Next case."
The Ochopee Statutes were what the Judge called justice tailored to the crime. When the written law didn't cover the circumstances, he'd make something up that did. And he got away with it for years.
Yep, he's the one they named the Marco Bridge after.
He was an expert at using innovative methods to get the job done. If the court had a full docket for the day, he'd use his Right-Left justice system. It went like this. The Judge would say, "All you folks who want to plead Guilty get up and go stand on the right side of the courtroom. All you that want to plead Not Guiltily, go stand on the left." The cases could include any misdemeanor: petty larceny, DWI, drunk and disorderly, the full gamut.
Now," he'd continue, "all you folks on the right are fined $25.00. Pay the Clerk. Let's hear the first Not Guilty case." And so it went.
He also didn't let the lack of one of his laws being on the books deter his rulings. Once a scalawag from Miami brought his lawyer with him to insure he'd beat the rap in the Cracker Court. At the end of the proceeding, when it was time to rule, Judge Jolley found the rascal guilty. The lawyer was aghast. "Your honor," he said, "there's no law like that on the books that I'm familiar with."
"It's one of the Ochopee Statutes," the judge responded. "Next case."
The Ochopee Statutes were what the Judge called justice tailored to the crime. When the written law didn't cover the circumstances, he'd make something up that did. And he got away with it for years.
Yep, he's the one they named the Marco Bridge after.
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