Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 4A
Sept. 30,2009
OUR VIEW
A job well done
I f Joshua Rounsonville is not executed for murder
ing a Houston County school maintenance work
er, he’ll be in prison until at least 2039 for trying
to murder Zapareo Glover in Forsyth. That
thanks to a Monroe County jury and Judge
Tommy Wilson on Monday. A hearty commendation is
due to the district attorney’s office, and to the eight
men and five women who gave careful attention to the
case from the jury box.
DA Richard Milam surely moved jurors when he
noted the contrast between Glover and Rounsoville.
Both young men naturally wanted a nicer car and the
popular large rims and wheels. The difference, noted
Milam: Glover was willing to work and save to get his.
Rounsoville was willing to kill and steal to have his.
Our justice system deals with crime after it happens.
But what do we do with that dysfuntional, drug-ridden
culture that produces it? We’d submit that only the
Christian message of forgiveness and love can change
hearts, and turn barbarians into productive members
of society. Many kids across the nation, and here in
Monroe County, are being raised without a mom or a
dad, without a compass to guide them through life. We
need a small army of mentors and prayer warriors to
engage our kids, to steer them to a life of meaning and
purpose, rather than a life in the despair of the thug
culture that produced Rounsoville. So help. Coach.
Mentor. Get involved. The need is great. But if we can
help a kid start making wise choices now, we may not
have to see him in the penal system later.
AROUND MIDDLE GEORGIA
From the Monticello
News:
• Monticello gets more
than 8 inches of rain last
week, and road officials
were considering closing
the Hwy. 16 bridge if
Jackson Lake continued
to rise.
• Monticello police say
they’ve solved a Sept. 16-
17 burglary at Pop’s BBQ
in which someone broke
into the restaurant and
stole rolled coins and cash
out of the register. A tip
led investigators to the
Circle K, which gets the
name and phone number
of anyone getting cash for
rolled coins. Those records
led them to the offender,
who confessed.
• The Monticello Dairy
Queen is now serving
breakfast.
From the Jackson
Progress-Argus:
• A Henderson Middle
School parapro, Michael
Lee Jones, is charged with
child pornography
• The GBI is investigat
ing drug charges against
Maj. Michael Overby of
the Butts County Sheriff’s
Office at the request of
Sheriff Gene Pope and
DA Richard Milam.
• Five convenience sto
ries in Jackson and Butts
County are found to be
operating illegal gambling
machines after city and
county law enforcement
officers serve search war
rants. More than $9,000
in unlawful funds are
seized. The law says win
ners can get store vouches
up to $5 but no cash.
• Jackson pharmacist
and businessman Danny
Hoard, owner of Big D’s
Drugs, dies at age 63.
• The Flying J Travel
Plaza bakes 1,417 cookies
for the 148th National
Guard unit.
• The FDIC has filed
suit against Joseph
McClelland Jr., former
director of Jackson’s now-
defunct First Georgia
Community Bank, for
defaulting on loans
totalling hundreds of
thousands of dollars.
• Readers won’t notice
any changes in the
Progress-Argus, says pub
lisher Bonnie Platt, even
as its parent company,
Triple Crown Media,
begins bankruptcy pro
ceedings.
From the Jones County
News:
• Jones County commis
sioners keep taxes the
same as last year, at
13.33 mills.
• The football
Greygounds fall to 2-2
after getting beat by
Westside.
is published every week by
The Monroe County Reporter Inc.
Will Davis, president
Robert M. Williams Jr., vice president
Cheryl S. Williams, secretary-treasurer
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The comments featured on the opinion pages
are the sole creations of the writers, they do
not necessarily reflect the opinions oi The Re
porter management.
Publication No. USPS 997-840)
1 Reporter
Opinion
Declare among the nations,
and publish, and set up a standard;
publish, and conceal not;
Jeremiah 50:2
On the Porch
More justice than drama
C overing the trial
of Dairy Queen
shooter Joshua
Rounsoville over
the past week
has reminded me that TV
shows do little justice to our
criminal justice system.
I’ve never been able
to endure an entire
episode of “Law and
Order,” but the bits I
have seen usually
portray high drama
in the courtroom.
You’ll see some
wealthy socialite
on the stand
wearing a dress
and a string of
pearls, charming
jurors and assuring them
there’s no way she could
have killed her husband -
only to have Arthur Branch
(Fred Thompson) dig in
during cross-examination
and reduce her to a slobber
ing confession from the
stand. And it all happens
before they cut to the next
Viagra commercial.
But here in the real
world, it’s not Viagra but
No Doz that court watchers
sometimes need.
TV never shows the end
less pre-trial hearings on
discovery rules, motions to
quash, attorney vacation
schedules, etc. They never
broadcast 12 hours of ques
tions for 150 jurors just to
find a dozen who can fairly
judge the case.
And they certainly would
n’t draw good Nielsen rat
ings by showing mind-
numbing lectures from
firearms experts describing
the different types of guns,
casings and distinguishing
characteristics of spent
shells.
Coffee, anyone?
This first Dairy Queen
trial was especially tedious
because district attorney
Richard Milam left nothing
to chance. He called 36 wit
nesses over four days,
building his case methodi
cally and chrono
logically. Even the
witnesses had a
hard time keeping
their interest in the
proceedings at
times. On
Thursday, Milam
called
Darcus Lane
of Eatonton
to the stand
to describe how
Rounsoville had brought
him the Monte Carlo of the
man he’s accused of killing
in Warner Robins.
After about 15 minutes of
questioning, the witness
became sort of unrespon
sive, his answers barely
audible. Lane mumbled
something about working
all night and explained that
he was falling asleep.
Judge Tommy Wilson,
who had just admonished a
juror because her cell
phone rang and interrupted
the trial, was in no mood to
sympathize. He sent the
jurors out, then turned a
frosty gaze to the witness.
‘You listen here,” said
Wilson. “I’ve been sitting
here for three days and
you’d better answer the
questions ‘yes sir’ and ‘no
sir’ or I’ll put you in jail.”
He gave the witness 10
minutes to splash some
water on his face and
stormed out of the court
room.
There were a few other
moments of drama, like
when the normally sullen
Rounsoville blurted out
that his co-defendant,
Burke, was lying dining his
testimony. He was repri
manded and quickly apolo
gized. And Milam’s two-
hour un-dressing of
Rounsoville’s pathetic, last-
ditch explanation was pret
ty dramatic.
But most of the trial, like
most court cases, wasn’t the
made-for-TV material some
might expect.
And yet that’s one of the
strengths of our criminal
justice system. It relies on
facts, witnesses and fair
and methodical procedures.
It can be boring, but it
beats a lynch mob. The sys
tem is built upon the rule of
law.
So how is it that we in
America have a judicial
system that is superior to
that of other countries? Is it
because of the genetic
make-up of our founders?
The product of chance and
luck?
No, I believe it is superior
because it was built on a
solid foundation: The rule of
law, and the Bible.
The Constitution’s gau-
rantees of a speedy trial by
jury, against cruel and
unusual punishment and
against double jeopardy
come from the founders’
understanding of the Bible
and of human nature.
It can be argued that our
trial system comes in part
from Deuteronomy 19:15,
where we read, ’’One wit
ness is not enough to con
vict a man accused of any
crime or offense he may
have committed. A matter
must be established by the
testimony of two or three
witnesses.”
Our laws against perjury
sound a lot like Proverbs
24, where we find, “Do not
testify against your neigh
bor without cause, or use
your lips to deceive.”
So is our justice system
perfect? No. People are
involved, and another
unchanging law our
founders understood was
from Romans 3: “There is
no one righteous, not even
one.” People screw things
up. But knowing the
human heart is not natu
rally good, they believed
laws were needed to pre
vent abuses of the power to
prosecute and imprison fel
low citizens.
We the taxpayers spent
thousands of dollars to feed,
house and provide legal
counsel for Mr. Rounsoville.
Not to mention the cost of
paying jurors and bailiffs to
handle the trial. But as a
result, as he heads to
prison for his vicious attack
on Zapareo Glover, we can
know that a civilized socie
ty gave Mr. Rounsoville
every opportunity to try
and prove his innocence.
I think there’s a lesson for
us here: Any system based
on biblical wisdom has a
good chance of working. On
the other hand, any society
or system that ignores or
excludes God’s word is des
tined to fail. That’s one of
those reliable, universal
laws that cannot be
changed, no matter how
many fairy tales the pun
dits and politicians tell us.
E-mail Will Davis at pub-
lisher@mymcr. net.
On the outside looking in
Nothing to do in Monroe Co.?
Editor’s Note: Don Daniel reported
in last week’s “On the outside looking
in” that he had gotten an e-mail from
someone stating that the city of
Forsyth had asked Wal-Mart not to
put gas pumps at its new store.
However, city officials at the time say
there’s no truth to that report, and
that they in fact asked them to
include fuel.
By the way, construction leaders on
site say plans still call for the new
Wal-Mart to open in March or April.
The outside is largely finished but the
inside remains a shell at present.
BY DONALD JACKSON DANIEL
nee in a while, there is a
Letter to the Editor or
Vent comment lamenting
“there is nothing to do in
Monroe Count/’ and be
moaning in their opinion there
are no places to get a “decent
meal.. .no nice restaurants”.
And the other inference is
there is nothing to do for
teenagers, parents or adults.
Those people who bemoan
there are no good restaurants
and nothing to do in Monroe
County must have blind
ers on, deaf or don’t read
this newspaper.
For example, just last
Thursday night the
Forsyth/Monroe County
Chamber of Commerce sponsored “A
Taste of Monroe County” that was a
sell-out—four-hundred tickets—that
featured just about all the restau
rants in the county. The
WhopperdiddlyDQwendymacs and
other fast foodies were not featured
although a lot of people think those
are the only restaurants in Monroe
County.
The comments overheard at the
event included, “I didn’t know we
had such good food and great restau
rants”, “I am really surprised that so
many restaurants participated” and
“I wonder why a couple of places
weren’t represented”. Bolingbroke,
Culloden, Juliette and Forsyth
restaurants were well represented
along with a couple of caterers. (I
have to admit, my most favorite were
the home-made tamales which to my
chagrin, are not offered on the local
Mexican restaurant’s menu. Since
they have a “Sheriff’s Special”,
maybe they will add a “Don’s
Favorite Tamales.”)
So, to the naysayers quit your grip
ing about our county not having
some nice restaurants, get out from
in front of your favorite mayhem,
murder and dancing feature on the
tube and explore Monroe County.
AS PREDICTED, the county line
issue is becoming more muddled and
contentious now that Bibb County
won’t pay their share of the survey
tab and the kin-to-county commis
sioner surveyor refuses to answer
questions about his work.
Actually, it is pretty easy to under
stand. Bibb County lost
and has reneged on their
promise to “settle” the
issue once and for all when
the dispute went through
the outlined legal proceed
ings from the Governor’s
and Secretary of State’s
office. Once and for all is
going to be a long way off
not only because Bibb
County feels they were
treated unfairly. When
the line is finally settled,
there will be a lot people
ready to stand in line to
hire a lawyer and bog down the
courts with their reasons for staying
where they want to be use to be.
Gird your loins and pocketbooks
Monroe Countians.. .we are gonna
have a lot of defending to do.
Writing about survey lines, brings
to mind a recent headline in the
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “In
Lumpkin, when surveys failed, gun
fire ends 20-year land dispute.” Hope
our county line survey doesn’t last
20-years and doesn’t end in gunfire.
Gun sales just might increase at the
Bass Pro Shop
THERE IS no reason and beyond
me why saying the Pledge of
Allegiance in Spanish, carrying
around a doll named, requiring stu
dents to read about the president as
punishment and not having enough
text books for students to carry home
for their homework, should become,
became a racial issue.
The school principal compounded
the issue with an innuendo when she
invited a local politician and a
wanna-be politician to a meeting
that was hosted by the school’s
Parent Teacher Organization (PTO).
I don’t understand why the principal
wanted to involve the two who are
members of the Southern Christians
Leadership Conference (SCLC) in an
issue that was supposedly handled
by her bosses.. .the county school
superintendent and the biracial
members of the school board. She
made the issue racial and her two
invitees just added fuel to issue!
They should have declined her invi
tation, politely. Now they have been
tagged as being racial. There, I have
said it.
Wonder if you have to have a child
enrolled at school as a requirement
to be a member of the PTO? Surely
they have guidelines as to who can
be a member. I would assume, since
the politician and wanna-be-politi-
cian attended the meeting, the mem
bership is open to anybody or who
have children enrolled at the school.
Maybe I’ll join.
One last thing about this: surely
the local school board and at least
the superintendent had and idea of
what the principal was doing. Just
wonder why they didn’t act on the
issue before it became a racial and
public issue. Maybe they just
thought if they ignored it nobody
would attend a school board meeting
and bring the issue up. That’s the
way most elected politicians handle
issues.. .ignore it and hopefully it will
go away. As the country singer
Charlie Rich crooned “No One
Knows What Goes On Behind Closed
Doors”.
Donald Jackson Daniel is the
founder and former publisher of The
Reporter. He can be contacted at tul-
laybear@bellsouth. net.
