Nevada Story

B.O. (B.S.) and his remark about the police acting stupidly for arresting a professor, turning the situation into a racial event, brought to mind a story I heard many years ago in Nevada.

A young man moved to a small Nevada town to work in the mine. He bought a trailer (small mobile home). When he came home one night, he found that the only door was frozen shut. He used a screw driver to chip away the ice so he could get into his home. He was immediately arrested, of course.

No one would listen to him when he tried to explain what he was doing. He went before the local judge and was asked for his plea. When he said "Not guilty," the judge had him sent back to his cell. A month later, he was brought before the judge again, asked for a plea, and again said "Not guilty." After another month behind bars and no sign of a lawyer, he went before the judge again and this time another inmate had advised him to plead "Guilty," which he did.

"Why did you try to break into that trailer?" The judge asked after the Guilty plea.

"Because it was my home and the door was frozen shut," he replied.

"Oh," said the judge. "Well, I guess you can go home now."

There was no racism involved, since there were no "people of color" involved. The President didn't make any smart remarks about it. It made no headlines. But the young miner was certainly treated worse than Professor, wasn't he?