Hang 'em first, try 'em later.
~Roy Bean~
~Roy Bean~
I know the law... I am it's greatest transgressor.
You have been tried by twelve good men and true, not of your peers but as high above you as heaven is of hell, and they have said you are guilty.
~Roy Bean~
Judge Roy Bean rivals the reputations of Southwest bench and bar famous judges even more so then the famous "hanging judge" of Fort Smith, Arkansas, Isaac C. Parker.
A man who pretty much practiced a civil law form of justice being, "judge, jury, and executioner" all in one and who dispensed rulings between games of poker and drinking bouts. His only law book was the Revised Statutes of Texas for 1876 of which he ignored the laws he did not like.
But, he inspired respect for the law with his two six-shooters and creative punishments and sentencing such as the use of the bear-and-stake method for sobering up drunks.
Some legends cite Bean as being a "hanging" judge, but there is no record that he ever sentenced a man to be hanged.
A typical start out in his barroom court went, "Hear ye! Hear ye! This honorable court is now in session, and if anybody wants a snort before we start, step up to the bar and name your poison."
"It is the judgment of this court that you are hereby tried and convicted of illegally and unlawfully committing certain grave offenses against the peace and dignity of the State of Texas, particularly in my bailiwick, to wit: drunk and disorderly, and being Law West of the Pecos, I fine you two dollars; then get the hell out of here and never show yourself in this court again."
A man who pretty much practiced a civil law form of justice being, "judge, jury, and executioner" all in one and who dispensed rulings between games of poker and drinking bouts. His only law book was the Revised Statutes of Texas for 1876 of which he ignored the laws he did not like.
But, he inspired respect for the law with his two six-shooters and creative punishments and sentencing such as the use of the bear-and-stake method for sobering up drunks.
Some legends cite Bean as being a "hanging" judge, but there is no record that he ever sentenced a man to be hanged.
A typical start out in his barroom court went, "Hear ye! Hear ye! This honorable court is now in session, and if anybody wants a snort before we start, step up to the bar and name your poison."
"It is the judgment of this court that you are hereby tried and convicted of illegally and unlawfully committing certain grave offenses against the peace and dignity of the State of Texas, particularly in my bailiwick, to wit: drunk and disorderly, and being Law West of the Pecos, I fine you two dollars; then get the hell out of here and never show yourself in this court again."
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