April 10th, 2008

Writing chapter nine of the posse book has been slow going this week, but I think that’s because there’s so much information it’s hard to condense it into 3,000 words. Wyatt, Bat, Charlie, and Bill arrested James Kenedy for the murder of Dora Hand, but Kenedy was not convicted for the crime. In spite of his suspicious behavior and the confession he made to the lawmen, the judge determined that there wasn’t enough evidence to hold him over for trial. All the lawmen were affected by the decision and it changed their opinion of law and order. According to Wyatt he was “soured on the law” after that. Out of the four men only one decided to make being a law enforcement officer a lifetime career. It’s easy to see how corruption and politics have taken over the justice system today, but I guess it’s always been the case more or less. H.L. Mencken defines a court of law as a “place where Jesus Christ and Judas Iscariot would be equals, with the betting odds in favour of Judas.” I think Wyatt Earp would have agreed with that. I know I do.