Lenoxville – The fifth annual Teachers’ and Directors’ Institute of Lenox Township was held in the M. E. Church at this place. Miss Margaret Maher pointed out, in her very interesting paper, many serious dangers to be avoided in the reading habit. “The vast amount of poor material thrown upon the market demanding the name “literature” makes it necessary to give the subject careful consideration. Keen selection in reading material is of the greatest importance. We must not allow the desire for information to deteriorate for it is idle curiosity which leads us to read trashy newspapers and magazines.”

Lynn, Springville Twp. – A Lynn correspondent states that Rev. Sheen, of Tunkhannock, while passing a point one mile south of that place in an automobile, was fired upon by some person or persons, evidently an attempt at a hold up. Also Dean Baker has sold his diary, keeping only one cow for his own use on account of his son, Wesley, being away from home running a restaurant in Springville.

Montrose – Snow to the depth of about seven inches, which fell during the storm of Monday and Tuesday, drifted very badly and the roads, as a consequence, are choked through the county, according to many reports received. The rural mail carriers out of Montrose were able to make their trips, although Messrs. Tingley and Palmer could not make their complete circuits, Tuesday. Cold temperature prevailed during the past week but the sleighing has been excellent, and many have been taking advantage of it. It has not been unusual to see sleighs, automobiles and wagons on the streets in Montrose, all at the same time. Also Montrose barber shops will be open on b

oth Christmas and New Year’s mornings, but will close the previous evening at the usual hour—8 o’clock.

Little Meadows – The quiet village of Little Meadows was thrown into a state of excitement a few days ago, when it became known that an infant had been left at the home of one of the citizens of that place, William Cummings. The family, responding to a knock at the door, about eight o’clock in the evening, found a market basket. In this basket was a parcel, well wrapped in a sheet; --the contents was a real, live baby. A simple line, written on a sheet of paper, read as follows: “Born Nov. 24th.” There was nothing to assist in locating the person or persons who had left it. The Cummings’ family took the waif in, and applied to the Poormasters, as the stranger was in need of clothes to make its start in the world. The Poormasters were reluctant to have such a charge thrust upon them, and suggested that the Cummings’ family adopt the stranger, which we understand they are not averse to doing. Also we are having lovely sleighing now; everybody is out with sleighs and bells. Also James Clarey called on friends in Warren Sunday and reported the roads drifted. “Bad roads for a car Jim.”

North Harford – We all are pleased to hear that the I. O. O. F. Lodge, of this place, has donated a twenty-lamp chandelier for the new high school building and I am sure the community and school will appreciate this gift. South Harford – The strange sounds still continue in the woods and only the bravest dare to travel about after night fall.

Rush – Hugh James has converted his Ford auto into a racer, having removed the body and top and put on a frame and one seat and he goes some, let me tell you. Also several from this place attended the sale of Chas. LaRue and reported that everything went very low. Cows ranging from twenty to forty-six dollars.

Parkville, Dimock Twp. – It is snowing hard this morning and we have good sleighing now for Monday altho we see some wagons yet.

North Bridgewater/Silver Lake – W. F. Simrell, of Hallstead, game protector, was here yesterday afternoon to investigate the shooting of a deer between this place and Silver Lake. Wednesday morning John McDonald heard his shepherd dog barking and he saw a deer coming toward his place over the field. He saw it was wounded and called the neighbors and surrounded it and drove it in a shed and gave it food and water, but it refused to eat. Dr. A. S. Cole, of Montrose, veterinary, was called and did all he could for its comfort, but it died that night. Mr.
Simrell went to Silver Lake and found where the deer had been chased through two pieces of woods and also ascertained it was shot by both a rifle and shot gun. The people around Silver Lake have known that a buck, doe and fawn have been in the woods and they were quite tame and it was hoped they would remain in that vicinity. [At this time deer were very scarce in the woods of Susquehanna County].

Brooklyn – The Scranton & Binghamton trolley won out in the big snow storm and blizzard. The cars were promptly on time. Brooklyn people consider themselves fortunate in having such a pleasant way out to Scranton, Montrose and Binghamton. Many of our people who have business to transact in Montrose take the trolley to Foster and change to the D. L. & W.

Dimock – Mr. and Mrs. D. S. Tiffany are staying at the library while their house is undergoing repairs.

Forest City – One of our aggressive merchants, Feldman & Co., have adopted a novel window display by the use of miniature Bell telephones to attract attention to the goods in their window. It is a novel idea and is attracting attention. Also after January 1, 1916, no unbottled milk can be sold in the borough. The state department has given instructions that no milk shall be offered for sale unless placed in sanitary bottles. The rule will be enforced. Also one of the new laws in regard to the employment of minors, which will become effective on Jan. 1st, is that no minor can secure an employment certificate unless he has completed six grades of school work, though he may have attained the age of fourteen.

South Montrose – A. W. Chamberlain and Miss Ida May Davison were married Monday evening at the home of Mr. Chamberlain by Rev. Carl Councilman. The groom is an old man sixty-three and too infirm to come after the marriage license, but the youthful bride of twenty-three, alone and undaunted, secured the document, but stated she was almost too nervous to sign her name.

Thompson – Mrs. A. H. Crozier and Mrs. A. Brundage entertained the Optimistic Circle, at the home of Mrs. Crosier last Wednesday afternoon.

Uniondale – The choir of the Methodist and Presbyterian churches will meet at Sam Lowry’s next Friday evening to practice for Christmas. The Christmas tree exercises will be held in the Presbyterian church this year.

News Brief: A new car, the cheapest car in the world, has made its appearance. It is a four-cylinder, narrow tread, two-passenger machine, the passengers sitting one behind the other; can go forty miles on a gallon of gasoline, it is claimed, and can run fifty miles an hour. It has six speeds, weighs but half a ton and costs, delivered, $241. It is the “Twombly.”

In July 1993, Mary Mitchell was brutally attacked in a Pittsburgh park – she was kicked approximately 60 times, stabbed in her throat, and sexually assaulted with a 16-inch piece of aluminum framing.  The brutality of the attack left her in a vegetative state.  After an investigation, Stevenson Rose admitted that he and another individual had committed these terrible and brutal acts.  In March 1994, after a jury trial, Rose was convicted of attempted murder, aggravated assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, recklessly endangering another person, and criminal conspiracy.  He was sentenced to a period of incarceration of 15 to 30 years.

In September 2007, fourteen years after the attack, Mary Mitchell finally died from her injuries.  Rose was then charged with criminal homicide for the killing of Mary Mitchell.  For those who are curious as to whether there is any Double Jeopardy issue as a result of the previous conviction, there is not.  The case law makes clear that Double Jeopardy only applies in circumstances where the crime could have been charged in the initial prosecution – and it was not done.  Because Mary Mitchell had not died yet, the Commonwealth could not have tried Rose on the homicide count in 1994 – therefore the Double Jeopardy Clause does not apply.

The question then arose regarding the potential length of the sentence for third degree murder.  When the assault occurred in 1994, the third degree murder had a maximum period of incarceration of 20 years.  In 1995, the legislature amended the third degree murder statute to provide for a maximum sentence of 40 years.

At Rose’s second sentencing hearing, the Commonwealth argued that because Mary Mitchell did not die until 2007, the crime was not “complete” until that date and the maximum sentence should be 40 years.  The defense argued that because the initial assault occurred in 1994 the maximum sentence could not exceed 20 years.  The trial court agreed with the Commonwealth and sentenced Rose to a period of incarceration of 20 to 40 years – with credit for all the years he had already spent incarcerated on the first offense.  In other words, the sentence was effectively changed from the initial 15 to 30 years to a sentence of 20 to 40 years.

Rose appealed this determination contending that the new sentence violated the Ex Post Facto Clause of both the federal and state constitutions in that Rose was being punished with a greater penalty than existed when he committed his criminal acts.  The case eventually made its way to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which determined that the use of the amended third degree murder statute violated the Ex Post Facto clause as that statute did not exist in 1994 when the crime was committed.

In making that determination, in a 4-1 decision, the Supreme Court stated: “Rose’s assault on the victim occurred in 1993, when the maximum sentence for third-degree murder was 20 years imprisonment.  Although the legislature later increased the maximum sentence for third-degree murder to 40 years imprisonment, all of Rose’s criminal acts occurred prior to the increase, and, at the time he committed the criminal acts, he could not have had fair warning that he could face 40 years imprisonment if the victim died as a result of his actions.”  In other words, the question for ex post facto purposes is when the defendant’s criminal conduct is completed – not when any consequences from that conduct eventually arises.

Justice Stevens dissented from the majority’s opinion with the following argument: “Respectfully, I disagree, for it is well-established that a victim’s death is an essential element of criminal homicide, therefore, [Rose] did not commit third degree murder until 2007.  It follows that, as it pertains to him, the sentencing enhancement [of the third degree murder statute] does not constitute ex post facto legislation, for it was impossible for [Rose] to have been sentenced prior to his conviction of third degree murder at which time that statute prescribed a 20 to 40 year sentence for that crime.” 

As such, Rose’s sentence was vacated and the case was remanded to the trial court for a new sentencing date with instructions that the maximum cannot exceed 20 years.  The Supreme Court made clear that its decision did not alter in any way the initial sentence of 15 to 30 years that was issued in 1994.  If the sentencing court gives Rose credit again back to the date of the initial sentence, the new prosecution and conviction will not add a single day to Rose’s sentence as he would receive a maximum sentence of 10 to 20 years – which would be less than the 15 to 30 years he is currently serving.

If the sentencing court determines to run that sentence consecutive, then there would be another wave of appeals as to the question of what, if any credit the defendant was entitled to receive toward the new homicide sentence itself – and the extent to which the prior offenses now merge with the new homicide conviction for sentencing purposes.

Please submit any questions, concerns, or comments to Susquehanna County District Attorney’s Office, P.O. Box 218, Montrose, Pennsylvania 18801 or at our website www.SusquehannaCounty-DA.org.

It has come to my attention that a regular reader of my column has totally misunderstood and mischaracterized the nature of my columns, so if other Gentle Readers will bear with me, I’ll provide him with some remedial schooling. We all remember from our school days that if one student wasn’t grasping the lesson plan, there were probably a few others who were merely too shy to speak, to ask a question or voice a comment.

So here we go. My misguided student has characterized my columns as having abundant verbiage. He is correct on this point. I take my time and develop ideas as deeply as I can to ensure readers have sufficient reference points on which to hang ideas. Notice that I said “ideas” (plural), not idea. It is not one idea repeated over and over, but a careful marshalling of facts on which premises may be established, syllogisms constructed, and conclusions drawn.

His supposition is that my “one idea” is (in his words) “Things aren’t the way they used to be, and I’m plenty upset!” Ahem! Each column sets forth a case that very bad things happen when people fail to hold their government accountable (fall asleep). I am proposing that many of these “bad things” need never have happened if the electorate had held their elected officials accountable. And even after these “bad things” happen, we still have a road back to redemption--if we can find the intestinal fortitude to rouse ourselves and put our shoulders to the wheel. It would have been better had we never let our “leaders” take our country far afield from Constitutional Republicanism, but all is not lost--yet!

Among the problems I have discussed in this column are totalitarianism, bloated bureaucracy, repeated attempts to disarm citizenry, executive tyranny, Congressional cowardice, militarism, political Islam, border integrity, and the absolute need for monetary reform and fiscal discipline. The over-riding theme is that for each of these problems, there exists a Constitutional solution, i.e., one that respects the right of the individual while limiting the power of government.

Contrary to the misguided reader’s comment, the solutions to these problems do not require “a lot more government.” In fact, the Constitutional solutions envisioned would result in a vast reduction in federal power and size. A few functions, those specifically enumerated in the Constitution for the federal government, might require an increase in some departments’ size; but hundreds of boards, commissions, agencies, and programs could and should be abolished--if we are to return to Constitutional government. The very effectiveness of the federal government is related to its laser-like focus on only those duties We The People have entrusted it to perform. The leviathan must be tamed for freedom to blossom. Bloated government is never the solution; it IS the problem.

While America Slept is in no way a nostalgic longing to return to days gone by. In fact there were flaws in every age of American history. This column is NOT an advocacy to repeat past failures; it is an optimistic hope that we can learn from past failures, including so many of those in just the past few years. What is obvious to me is that departures from Constitutional government in which men are endowed with God-given rights lead inevitably and inexorably to a government endowed with God-like (unlimited) powers. All the lessons of history indicate that when men assume God-like power, they abuse it, and do so on a grand scale that knows no bounds--to the detriment of all mankind.

I have read that in the last 4,500 years there are believed to be a mere 263 years of peace. I cannot for a certainty prove the author’s assertion, but assuming it is true, it is a clear indicator that men are very flawed as a species. To entrust God-like powers to men in the form of government resulted in the democide (murder by government) of over 100 million people in the last century alone, and that’s a very conservative estimate!

Our government was the first of its kind. Americans threw off the tyranny of King George III and instituted government of the people, for the people, and by the people. Our government was established as one with enumerated powers, concurrent powers, powers assigned to the States, and powers reserved to the people. With separated and divided powers, and three co-equal branches each with specific duties, the framers of our Constitution hoped to hold off the natural tendency to tyranny for as long as they could. Not 50 years after the Declaration of Independence was proclaimed, founders passing from the scene decried the nation’s failure to hold fast to first principles.

How much further have we slipped away from Constitutional principles of 1789. Imagine Xeroxing a photo, then Xeroxing the Xerox copy, and continuing the process with each successive Xerox copy. The 226th copy bears little resemblance to the original picture. So it is with our Republic. Short-cuts (expedient actions) were taken, alterations were made (precipitously), many due to the exigencies of the moment, many because one party won an overwhelming majority and Constitutional firewalls were breached in a moment of exuberance.

We are now reaping the whirlwind of what our fathers, and their fathers, and their fathers’ fathers have sown. There were, to be sure, serious breaches of Constitutional firewalls before 1913, but since that year America’s gas pedal has been bolted to the floor as she races to join every other nation in the destruction of Natural Rights.

The problems on which I comment, and the solutions I promote are products of neither my delusion nor ingenuity. The problems are readily apparent to any sentient being who can honestly evaluate the predicament we face. The solutions promoted are those of history’s giants: Adam Smith, John Locke, Edmund Burke, George Mason, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, Ludwig von Mises, F. A. Hayek, and Alexis De Tocqueville, to name a few. The point is that humanity has already faced the problems we face today, and humanity already has a track record of what works and what does not. It is incumbent upon us to not repeat past mistakes, but to take advantage of the blessings of history; else history may be consigned as an exercise in futility.

While America Slept says nothing about “accepting things [we] cannot change.” It’s all about accepting that we must change if we are to have any hope of individual freedom and liberty under Constitutional principles. We owe it to our children and to their posterity to pass on to them the sweet liberty entrusted to us by our forefathers. No American should assume that freedom can be taken for granted. Before every generation various tyrannies manifest to enslave those apathetic and slumbering. Only through vigilance can virtue and liberty be preserved, yea won back.

A future president ended his October 27, 1964 address to the nation with these words, “You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children and our children’s children say of us we justified our brief moment here. We did all that could be done.”

Awakened Readers are applauded. Those still asleep, please re-read.