Fr. Steve:
I hope to make a long (very long) story fairly short.
When I lived in West Virginia, a circuit court judge was on trial for (among other things) issuing himself a concealed weapons permit without having the application published in a local paper. Among the other events leading up to the trial was his announcement that he would be the presiding judge at his trial because he was the circuit judge for that jurisdiction. It took literally an order of the WV Supreme Court to get him off the bench long enough for another judge to come in and preside.
During the proceedings he was asked on the witness stand if he kept his weapon with him at all times. "Yes," he replied. "I kept it with me always."
"Even on the bench?"
"Especially on the bench. I knew they were out to get me and I wanted to be prepared."
"Mr. Dostert, did you keep the pistol in your robe?"
"No. I kept it right on the bench in a hollowed out copy of 'Robert's Rules of Order.'"
We referred to this guy as the law west of the Shenandoah. This was in Charles Town, WV back in the very early 1980s. I'm not gonna tell much more, though there is a lot more, because this esteemed gentleman's escapades on the bench are part of my next novel, titled The Great West Virginia Copter Caper. He died without heirs a few years back, so I feel comfortable writing this without worrying too much about a lawsuit.
TEd
