Krause, Larry

Sipes, Leonard A., Jr.

English

University of Baltimore School of Law

University of Baltimore Law ForumVolume 6Number 2 November, 1975 Article 211-1975Baltimore's Own Law & Order Cowboy - anInterview with State's Attorney William SwisherLeonard A. Sipes Jr.Larry KrauseFollow this and additional works at: http://scholarworks.law.ubalt.edu/lfPart of the Law CommonsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@University of Baltimore School of Law. It has been accepted for inclusion inUniversity of Baltimore Law Forum by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks@University of Baltimore School of Law. For more information, pleasecontact snolan@ubalt.edu.Recommended CitationSipes, Leonard A. Jr. and Krause, Larry (1975) "Baltimore's Own Law & Order Cowboy - an Interview with State's Attorney WilliamSwisher," University of Baltimore Law Forum: Vol. 6 : No. 2 , Article 2.Available at: http://scholarworks.law.ubalt.edu/lf/vol6/iss2/2Baltimore's Own Law & Order Cowboy an interview with State's Attorney William Swisher by Leonard A. Sipes, Jr. and Larry Krause "We've got to start taking drastic ac-tion; somebody has got to suffer instead of law abiding people. Somehow, someway, we've got to make people re-sponsible for their actions," so spoke soft -voiced William Swisher, Baltimore's newest State's Attorney. After a con-troversial victory over the incumbent Milton Allen, the Highlandtown-raised forty-one year old Mr. Swisher expres-ses a hard-line approach to criminality. At times it's difficult to understand why anyone would want to be elected to a position as responsible and frustrating as the office Swisher now holds. Crime is on the rise and shows no sign of letting up. He alone holds the power in this city to decide whether or not to enforce a law by prosecuting those who disobey it. Citizens and police alike are furious and fuming over the actions of the courts in not convicting certain alleged criminals. In his efforts, he is sure to come under in-tense criticism for whatever decision he makes. But he knew this when he ran for office. The answer to why he chose to seek office as State's Attorney is very much like the little statue that sits on his desk. The statue is that of a cowboy, holding his rifle at a slight angle in both hands. The cowboy is alert and determined. On the base of the statue is the motto: Law and Order. Like the spirit of the west, whatever the problems of conquering that untamed land were, however extra-legal, settlers knew solutions would be found. His Highlandtown background is another explanation. Here the residents THE FORUM refuse to accept a state of helplessness; after all, their parents and grand parents left the tyranny of the old world to obtain the peace and prosperity of the new world. Because of this attitude and his-toric fact, they refuse to let threatening acts of crime jeopardize their property, possessions and safety: they have worked laboriously to obtain these things. William Swisher feels he has no pat answers to the problems faced by his of-fice, but the thing that is certain is that real steps will be taken that might curb the spirialing crime rate. His own per-sonal history reinforces this optimism. Nothing has come easy to him; William Swisher has had to work for what he has achieved. For example, he put himself through high school, and the University of Baltimore Law School by working in his spare time on a beer truck, hauling and carrying cases of beer from brewery to bar. After passing his bar exam in 1959, he opened a private prac-tice in Highlandtown. Then in 1963 he became an Assistant State's Attorney. In 1967 he returned to private practice, feeling that his skills were needed there. He was motivated to run for this office because he felt deeply that a change had to be made in the State's Attorney office; more could be accomplished and he and his constituents felt he might be that agent of change. A well-informed public is one of the keystones of a. democracy; the same applies to the massive problems faced by the State's Attorney's Office. Expressing this, Mr. Swisher intends to focus more acutely on the dilemmas his office con-stantly faces by making his office open to the public. Public awareness is but one step to reversing the growing problem of crime. By educating the public about the State's Attorney's Office, Mr. Swisher is quick to point out that the public will have no illusions that Bill Swisher is going to try to tell the people that things are better than they really are. The new State's Attorney feels that there has been an over-all breakdown of morality and responsibility in our modern society. Mr. Swisher vividly comments, "[NJo one is taught responsi-bility today; no one is taught that they must pay for their actions." Angrily he adds, but yet not directed toward the hip-crowd that made this phrase sym-bolic, "[eJveryone wants to do their own thing today; no one wants to be respon-sible to anyone else." He goes on to re-late an incident that occured in his neighborhood recently that highlighted the point: a number of loud and rowdy teenagers, living in Herring Run, came into the park one evening to drink beer. In drunkeness, they became even louder. Although they did not engage in obvious vandalism, when they did leave the park (the police had arrived) the area was littered with dozens of beer bottles, many of which were broken, and trash. Mr. Swisher sees a cause and effect re-lationship existing in a liberal approach to social problems and decline in per-sonal responsibility. For example, in re-cent years a liberal Congress and Sup-reme Court has come to view the neces-sity of the government to expand its free services. Thus, "[wJelfare, free bail, free lawyers, everything free - I'm not complaining about the people who re-ally need these things, but I'm tired of people abusing it. My own mother could collect welfare, but she wouldn't dream of it." In his scheme of things, because some people realize they don't have to work to obtain the things in life they may want, or that so much is freely given by the government, people have lost a sense of responsibility. This attitude goes even further, in ways he feels could, in-deed, destroy this country. He cites the ever-increasing example of juveniles who know, predictably, that they will get off on their first offense. These offenders know that the courts are over-worked; that officers may not appear at the trial that witnesses often will not appear; or if they should, by unlikely circumstances, be found guilty, that the judge will only put them on probation or suspend the sentence. Mr. Swisher has come to conclude that the breakdown of the family is a major factor in the increase of crime. He states, "[wJhat in the name of God has happened to the family? Whey aren't parents keeping a close eye on their chil-dren?" Crime can be controlled, but, like anything else, it all starts in the home. These traditional values, manifested in the community he grew-up in, is the attitude of his offi£e. At the same time, unlike the clanishness and privateness of Highlandtown, Mr. Swisherfully favors a State's Attorney's Office that is accessi-ble to the public. One senses that part of this decision is based on his realization that the enormous problems of crime cannot be solved by one individual or one single office. "The people on the street know that they don't have to pay for their crimes," said Mr. Swisher, then recalling when he was a private defense lawyer that many of his clients would ask if the judge, the State's Attorney, the cop or anyone else he could go to could be fixed. The facts speak for themselves: a couple of hours after committing the crime, the defen-dent will be out on the streets again, after bail or a promise to appear in court, or he is released in the custody of his parents. The courts will probably slap the person on the wrist if he has a small criminal re-cord. If it's a juvenile, more times than not, the youngster will broadcast to his peers the leniency he has received. The State's Attorney then related back to his childhood, and commented. "I grew up on the streets; I know what happens out there." From his view of things, "[p]eople are going to have to feel that they will pay for their crimes before they stop commiting them." In respect to juvenile crime, "the idea behind bail or releaSing a juvenile to the custody of his parents is going along with the fact that a person is innocent until proven guilty, but when you catch a kid red-handed coming out of a house with a television set, that kid should go to jail," Mr. Swisher plainly stated. It is now known that people under the age of eighteen commit the majority of crime nationwide. Further, anyone who has kept in touch with local happenings remembers the controversy between the Police Commissioner and the juvenile court system. The State's Attorney is prepared to add more fuel to the fire. He states that "frankly, the juvenile court should be abolished because it's not doing its job; the thing is a joke today." State's Attomey William Swisher Criminal violations belong in a criminal court, he believes. "You cannot tell me that a sixteen year old does not know what he's doing when he is breaking into your house; it's his fault, and he's got to take responsibility for his actions." Despite this hard line, Mr. Swisher sees a twofold solution. First, we have to get the youngsters off the streets, and second, there must be a program of massive education, or, more accurately, re-education. In a sympathetic tone (towards the of-fender) and an angry one towards the system, he comments, "I do not want this crappy stuff of one teacher for three hundred kids, or one psychologist who mumbles words once a month to a kid, or a probation officer who sees someone for ten minutes every thirty days." A huge amount of money from all levels of government is needed to effec-tively change this situation. However, Mr. Swisher feels that few are willing to foot the bill necessary to do the job properly. As long as there are over-crowded prisons, underpaid law en-forcement personnel, over-clogged courts, the unnecessary restrictions on police (paperwork or doing non-police duties) bogging down the criminal justice system, little will change and the frustra-tions felt by the various agencies as-signed to deal with these problems will continue. Mr. Swisher sums up this pro-blem quite bluntly, "[n]obody gives a damn until it effects them personally." Throughout the many years of ex-perience in the criminal justice system, William Swisher has come to a number of conclusions that confirm his percep-tions of the entire system in general. Much publicity has been given to police incompetency over the years. He feels that, by and large, the police department seldom bungles a case. On its rare oc-currence the press jumps in and levels sweeping charges of poor workmanship. In his view, the fact that police morale is low stems largely from decisions made by the local courts and the weakening of police power results from recent Sup-reme Court decisions. Like the vigilant, gun protected cow-boy on his desk, Mr. Swisher is in office to back-up the police department. For example, if an officer shoots an indi-NOVEMBER, 1975 IT] vidual in the line of duty and if the inves-tigation proves that officer had reason to shoot, "I'm not going to drag him up to the grand jury," Swisher states. Another subject, receiving much pub-licity of late, is that of plea bargaining. Al-though it is sometimes a common prac-tice, in Baltimore it is not used to the same extent as in New York City. Plea bargaining, however, is a necessity. "We're tough when we have a case; we just tell the defense to go to hell. When we have a weak case, we'll try to bargain to salvage something out of it." Although William Swisher is first to admit he prefers a hard line of criminal justice, many of his views are similar to a liberal intepretation. A few samplings: Of victimless crimes he says, "I've often thoughtthat with the present crime problem as it is, it is rather silly to be chas-ing homosexuals and prostitutes around the city while we could be putting policemen to work chasing robbers. It is wasteful of the taxpayers' money and the courts' time." On the matter of de-criminalizing marijuana, Mr. Swisher is nearly in ag-reement with that proposal, a firm statement to that effect he is not yet will-ing to make. He views it this way: realiz-ing that many lawyers and business people smoke pot, there is a degree of acceptability about this it because these people are mature adults. Youngsters on the other hand, lack the sophistication or the education to see the possible dan-gers of any potential escapism drug habit. "I'm not so sure the kids should go to jail for it, though the sellers certainly ought to. We actively prosecute for pos-session, but generally the kids get a slap on the wrist and they are let go, as it should be." The matter of white collar crimes. William Swisher feels is not a serious matter. Human nature as it is in this country is such that the population is not terribly upset over white collar crimes as compared to crimes of violence or prop-erty. In fact, most judges today take a more sympathetic view of the white col-lar criminal. According to Mr. Swisher, their rationale follows along two lines. First, since the act has not resulted in vio-lence, the nature of the crime cannot be considered too hideous. Secondly, THE FORUM many judges are apprehensive about sending "a meek and mild businessman to Jessup where he will be raped the first day he is there," as Mr. Swisher de-scribes it. Highlighting this point, he re-lated the example of a lawyer who was sent to the city jail, there to be raped and beaten. For his own protection he was sent to the penitentary, where he was also raped and beaten. "People don't want to talk about it, but dammit, that's what these prisons are all about. If you go to the city jail, you are going to be in trouble. We don't want to send a busi-nessman over there to be killed." William Swisher sees the problem of drunken driving in ways that are con-trary to current thinking by the courts, legislature and safety council. He says, "we treat our drunk drivers worse than we treat burglars in our society." He is in sympathy with the family man, who after a hard week's work, cashes his check, goes to his local tavern and has one too many drinks. If he is caught for drunken driving, "[hJis defense in court will cost him a grand at least," he says. Adding further, Mr. Swisher comments that many drunk drivers do not cause acci-dents and that most people know that they are loaded and subsequently drive more carefully. "It doesn't take many drinks to be legally drunk. The problem is speed, not drunk driving," he con-cludes. Through the years the scheme of things for William Swisher has been based on repetitive events in the area of criminal justice: namely, crime continues to increase; and, more and more, the al-leged criminal is less severely treated in the process of arrest and incarceration. His perceptions about crime and the State's Attorney's Office subsequently work from these repetitive events to form a pattern that verifies an overview or philosophy on justice. Violent crimes and those against property must be dealt with harshly. Life and property, then are the supreme values, the guiding values that the criminal justice system must ceaselessly guard. It's much like the statue of the cowboy on his desk, weapon in hand: the State's Attorney's Office, the police, the courts, the prisons are there ( to vigilently and determinedly orotect life and property. The Night Side by David King E.S.B.A. President The open exam system is a great aid to all students. The evening student is par-ticularly affected by this system because it allows him/her greater flexibility in set-ting up a study schedule for exams and it completely eliminates the possibility of back to back exams. If we wish to keep open exams, then there are certain things we must do to show the faculty and administration that we are capable of handling such a system. First and foremost, the Honor Code must be strictly obeyed. This includes not only re-fraining from cheating on or discussing an exam but it also includes reporting any violations of the Code. Also, if you don't know of any incidents of cheating, please don't make general statements regarding "mass cheating" as these can only result in the possible suspension of the open exam system. At the ABNLSD roundtable in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, student leaders from other schools were astounded to learn of our open exam system. They had never heard of a system that put such a large amount of faith in student honesty. The University of Baltimore is an innovator in this area. Help us show that this system can work and you will also be helping yourself by insuring the continuation of open exams. 

Baltimore\u27s Own Law & Order Cowboy - an Interview with State\u27s Attorney William Swisher

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Baltimore\u27s Own Law & Order Cowboy - an Interview with State\u27s Attorney William Swisher

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