Posted on 08/02/2002 1:12:20 AM PDT by nitetrax
OUR OPINIONS: Clayton solicitor confused about justice vs. revenge
Staff
Friday, July 26, 2002
By the time you read this, Clayton County may have declared Julia Munger Public Enemy No. 1.
She hasn't robbed any banks at gunpoint. She's not the ringleader of a stolen car gang. Far as we know, the woman never jaywalked a day in her life. So what dastardly deeds qualify Munger for the most wanted list? She won't stop talking to the media.
Munger is the mother of a 23-year-old autistic son who flew into a sudden, profanity-laced rage at a supermarket in Morrow. She initially tried to explain her son's condition to police when they arrived. But as they tried to restrain him, Munger allegedly tussled with one of the officers. Clayton County Solicitor Keith Martin charged her with obstructing an officer. So far, so good. But that was six months ago.
Since then, Munger has been talking to newspapers and going on TV to criticize Martin's handling of the case. In response, Martin has been going on a petty, personal vendetta. He has leveled two additional misdemeanor charges against Munger, one for every time in the last week that her name showed up in print or she appeared on the evening news.
"It's an immediate and direct result of her position as detailed in the media," Martin said, justifying his actions without a hint of shame. For Martin, the law is no longer a finely honed scalpel, it's a blunt instrument he'll use on a whim to bludgeon Munger --- or anyone else who crosses him --- into submission.
If Martin's name seems familiar it's because he was also accused of grandstanding (on TV, no less!) in prosecuting Michael Shane Lasseter, the manic University of Georgia football fan who shut down Hartsfield International Airport by running down an up escalator last year.
In describing Martin's imperious attitude, a lawyer who once worked for him said: "You know the old saying. If you're going to shoot at the king, you better hit him between the eyes."
Martin must be reminded that he's nobody's king. At best, he's a misguided public servant who has forgotten his obligation to discharge his duties fairly, and dispassionately. At worst, he's a tin horn despot who doesn't know the difference between serving justice and exacting revenge.
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