Post #2092692

Judge Roy Bean's wikipedia entry is one of the funniest things I have ever read. The most American rogue ever getting into a bunch of wacky adventures. One of his first acts as a justice of the peace was to "shoot [...] up the saloon shack of a Jewish competitor".[3] Bean then turned his tent saloon into a part-time courtroom and began calling himself the "Only Law West of the Pecos".[3] As a judge, Bean relied on a single law book, the 1879 edition of the Revised Statutes of Texas, and when newer law books showed up he used them as kindling.[3][2] Bean did not allow hung juries or appeals. Jurors, who were chosen from his best bar customers, were expected to buy a drink during every court recess.[3] He was also known for his unusual rulings. In one case, an Irishman named Paddy O'Rourke shot a Chinese laborer. During the trial, a mob of 200 angry Irishmen surrounded the courtroom and saloon, threatening to lynch Bean if O'Rourke was not freed. After looking through his law book, Bean ruled that "homicide was the killing of a human being; however, he could find no law against killing a Chinaman" and subsequently dismissed the case.