The Judge and the Skunk Hole
A local editor alleges that a Whitman County judge engaged in witness tampering, perjury, and attempted kidnapping to secure testimony in a personal vendetta.
J. E. Nessly has furnished the $2,000 bond imposed by Judge McDonald for his appearance in court this May. Nessly faces charges of perjury, which he claims were trumped up because he accused the judge of subornation of perjury in a motion for a change of venue. The editorial alleges that Judge McDonald has repeatedly attempted to kidnap or coerce a witness, William Brooks, to testify against Nessly. The judge allegedly solicited a local constable, O. M. Sparks, to decoy the boy over the Idaho state line, promising payment for his services. In a letter to Sparks, Judge McDonald wrote: 'The sheriff's office is too slow for me, and I would as soon trust a pig with a hymn book as the sheriff with a warrant.' The dispute has reached the desk of Governor Rogers, who refused to issue a requisition for Brooks, sensing the judge’s personal motives.
“The sheriff's office is too slow for me, and I would as soon trust a pig with a hymn book as the sheriff with a warrant.”
This 1900 account of judicial overreach captures a volatile era in Whitman County politics. The skepticism toward 'populist' judges and local political machine tactics reflects a perennial American anxiety about whether the courts serve the law or the petty vendettas of the people sitting on the bench.
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