Return to the Sins of Franklin County

First, let's visit the Franklin County seat in Russellville; in fact, let's visit the courthouse. When last we commented on Judge Terry Dempsey, it was to lament the fact that he gave convicted killer Hershel Dale Graham only two years to serve in prison. We'll note that Graham is still appealing and has yet to serve more than two days.

However, now we're focusing on a civil trial. It's one of which we were not aware and appreciate a faithful reader for sending us the link:

Judicial Hellholes

Yes, the case is over two years old, but such suits are rare in Franklin County. We'll assume the software company appealed the huge judgment since there seems to be plenty of cause.

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Now let's amble over to the little town of Red Bay. It seems that those city employees who work in trash collection and at the landfill are not supposed to take any of the trash home with them, no matter how wonderful. Whether this law is useful in some way or not, we'll let the readers decide. Nevertheless, it's a rule and should be followed.

One trash collector recently discovered a very usable train case placed on the street with other refuse. He promptly took it to a family member who was in need of one for short trips. Sadly, Murphy and his law were on hand, and the owner of the train case called to say the item was placed in the refuse pile by mistake.

The employee who took the case admitted it and was suspended for ten days. Not only was the employee who took the case suspended, a second employee who was aware of the incident was also suspended. Besides the ten-day suspension, the two workers were placed on six-months probation.

Does the punishment fit the crime? What would we have done in the case of the abandoned case? It would seem to us a simple write-up at most would have been sufficient. A verbal warning would have been even more fitting. We doubt either trash collector easily afforded ten days with no pay.

It's been suggested that Red Bay Councilman Mike Stockton is the ideal person to look into reducing the punishment of these two city employees...



Shoalanda