DEBT PAID
Fiorello LaGuardia, one-time mayor of New York, was presiding at police court on a bitterly cold day. A trembling old man was brought in, arrested for stealing a loaf of bread. His family, the old man said, was starving. La Guardia said, “The law gives me no choice. I have to fine you ten dollars.” Then he pulled ten dollars out of his own pocket & said, “here’s the ten dollars to pay your fine. Now I remit the fine. He dropped the ten dollars into his hat and declared, “I hereby fine everybody in this courtroom fifty cents for living in a town where a man has to steal bread in order to eat. Bailiff, collect the fines and give them to his defendant.” The hat was passed and the old man, his face aglow, left the courtroom with forty seven dollars & fifty cents.”
To view this resource, log in or sign up for a subscription plan
